Wisconsin Splits Weekend Tennis Matches Against Pennsylvania and Middle Tennessee State

Wisconsin's tennis squad finished the weekend with one win and one loss, moving their overall record to 6-6. They secured a victory against Pennsylvania in their home facility, then traveled to Tennessee where they suffered a narrow defeat. Following these results, the team remains winless in Big Ten play with a 0-1 conference standing, and they continue to search for their first victory as visitors this season.

The Badgers hosted Pennsylvania (4-7) on Friday afternoon at Nielsen Tennis Center. Wisconsin entered the match seeking to reverse a historical trend, as the Quakers held a record of previous victories against them in this series, including a narrow 4-3 result last year. On this occasion, the Badgers dominated the proceedings, securing a 6-1 victory.

Wisconsin began by claiming the doubles point. The pairing of senior Josef Dodridge and junior Osgar O'Hoisin defeated their opponents 6-1 and remain undefeated when playing together this year. The Badgers also secured a 6-2 doubles win from the tandem of sophomores Daniel Soyfer and Chase Colton.

The team then carried that momentum into singles competition, taking every match except one. Colton, Soyfer, and Dodridge each prevailed in straight sets, as did freshman Jesper Freimuth with scores of 6-2, 6-3. O'Hoisin required three sets to prevail, taking the final deciding game 7-5, 4-6, 10-2.

The schedule shifted to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for a matchup with Middle Tennessee State (10-2). The Blue Raiders entered the contest with a perfect home record for the season and a history of shutting out opponents. Wisconsin started the competition strongly by taking the doubles point, with O'Hoisin and Dodridge winning 6-4 and senior Chema Carranza partnering with Freimuth to win 6-2.

Soyfer continued his personal momentum in singles play by winning 6-4, 6-3, bringing his singles record for the year to 10-0. However, Middle Tennessee State responded by taking the next three singles matches to lead 3-2. Dodridge evened the score at 3-3 by defeating his opponent 7-6, 6-1, which left the final outcome to the No. 2 singles match between Carranza and Moonen.

Carranza dropped the opening set in a 7-6 tiebreak but recovered to take the second set 6-1. In the third, Carranza reached a 5-4 lead, but Moonen rallied to win 7-5 and secure the match for the Blue Raiders. Head coach Danny Westerman noted the difficulty of the loss for the team while expressing optimism about its value for future growth. "This one stings. We need to keep working. We put ourselves in these situations so we can eventually get over the hump," he told UWBadgers.com.

Wisconsin is scheduled to return to Nielsen Tennis Center next weekend for a Sunday doubleheader featuring matches against Cornell and UW-Green Bay.