Box Score
April 12, 2015
MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin women's tennis team made it difficult, but No. 23 Northwestern left Madison with a 6-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
Facing their second ranked opponent of the weekend, the Badgers, (10-9, 4-5 B1G) couldn't muster enough to knock off the Wildcats (12-6, 7-2 B1G), who have now won their last five Big Ten matches.
The match was tense all the way through, starting with a hotly contested doubles point. Against Northwestern's 39th-ranked doubles duo of Alicia Barnett and Erin Larner, Lauren Chypyha and Kelsey Grambeau came from behind, 4-2, before tying it up at 6 games apiece. Though they ultimately fell, 8-6, as the last doubles match on the court, their comeback efforts were contagious.
Starting out down 3-1 against the No. 70 ranked doubles team in the country in Rheeya Doshi and Brooke Rischbieth, Wisconsin's Ekaterina Stepanova and Sydney Rider rallied to take the match, 8-5.
In singles play, the Badgers pushed the Wildcats to tiebreak third sets on both the first and third courts before ultimately falling. Chypyha narrowly lost her first set 7-5 before roaring back to win the second set over Alicia Barnett, 6-3. Barnett would then take the tiebreak by a score of 10-6.
Rider won the Badgers' sole point of the match with her fifth court victory of the season, knocking off Northwestern's Doshi, 6-1, 7-5.
Wisconsin will close out its 2015 home schedule next weekend by hosting No. 52 Indiana next Friday. The Badgers and Hoosiers will tangle at 3 p.m. (CT) at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. UW will then travel to No. 34 Purdue on Sunday, April 19, for its regular season finale.
No. 23 Northwestern 6, Wisconsin 1
Madison, Wis.
Nielsen Tennis Stadium
Singles:
1. Alicia Barnett (NU) def. Lauren Chypyha (WIS) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
2. Erin Larner (NU) def. Maria Avgerinos (WIS) 6-4, 6-0
3. Alex Chatt (NU) def. Ekaterina Stepanova (WIS) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8)
4. Lok Sze Leung (NU) def. Lauren Burich (WIS) 6-2, 6-0
5. Sydney Rider (WIS) def. Rheeya Doshi (NU) 6-1, 7-5
6. Brooke Rischbieth (NU) def. Kelsey Grambeau (WIS) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles:
1. No. 39 Alicia Barnett/Erin Larner (NU) def. Lauren Chypyha/Kelsey Grambeau (WIS) 8-6
2. Ekaterina Stepanova/Sydney Rider (WIS) def. No. 70 Rheeya Doshi/Brooke Rischbieth (NU) 8-5
3. Alex Chatt/Lok Sze Leung (NU) def. Maria Avgerinos/Lauren Burich (WIS) 8-3
Order of finish:
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 4, 5, 6, 2, 1, 3
