Wisconsin Badgers
No. 48 Indiana
Badgers fall in tight bout with No. 48 Hoosiers
April 17, 2015 | Women's Tennis
April 17, 2015
MADISON, Wis. -- The Badgers fought valiantly, even picking up an early 2-0 edge on the No. 48 ranked Indiana Hoosiers on Friday, but they came up short, losing 4-3 on the outdoor courts of Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Wisconsin evened its record at 10-10 on the season, but has been extremely close in numerous other contests, dropping a total of six matches by a 4-3 count.
Wisconsin (4-6 in Big Ten) struck early, taking the doubles point from No. 48 Indiana (15-7, 6-4 B1G) thanks to victories on the top two courts.
Sydney Rider and Ekaterina Stepanova first topped Indiana's second doubles pairing by a score of 8-6. The Hoosier pair of Katie Klyczek and Kim Schmider fell to 4-2 as a team this spring, while the Badger duo now sits at 10-6 on the year.
Lauren Chypyha and Kelsey Grambeau knocked off Indiana's top doubles team in Alecia Kauss and Carolyn Chupa, 8-6 to clinch the doubles point for the Badgers.
Singles play started with a bang for the Cardinal and White as well, as Sydney Rider was the first player off the courts, leaving a cool 6-2, 6-1 victory in her wake, bringing the Wisconsin lead to two. Rider improved to 5-4 in Big Ten play just a year after going winless in conference action as a freshman.
"We are getting ourselves into good positions," head coach Tina Samara acknowledged. "We did a good job with that doubles point today, which, we improved from last time by taking it instead of waiting for them to miss. Every court was competitive, they all lasted about four hours, other than Sydney who did a good job finishing her match quickly."
Unfortunately, the Hoosiers would come up on the winning side of four of the five remaining matches.
The final victory for UW came from the slowest starter in singles play.
At No. 3 singles, Ekaterina Stepanova dropped the first set 2-6, but was on fire from there, winning 6-1, 6-1 to keep the match alive for the battling Badgers. The UW freshman moved to 6-4 in Big Ten action, equaling Kelsey Grambeau (6-4) for the team high in conference wins.
"It was typical Kate," Samara said with a grin. "There was one set in there where she was down, and then she gets fired up and has two sets of ridiculously good tennis. The crazy thing with her is that after she lost that first set, I had no doubt she was going to win the match. I just felt like she out-matched her opponent, and I knew she would change a couple little things that were easy to do and she would win."
Ultimately, it would wind up a 4-3 defeat for the Badgers, but the team is excited about the opportunities that they still have this season.
"I think we've actually played better every single match of the Big Ten season," Samara said. "So that's why we're excited, that we think we are going to make the Big Ten tournament, and we can't wait to get another shot at one of these teams."
The Badgers will get a chance to continue their improvement over the season at No. 34 Purdue this Sunday at noon. The Boilermakers come into the match 12-7 but on a two game losing streat after losing to both Minnesota and Maryland by a score of 4-3.Â
No. 48 Indiana 4, Wisconsin 3
Madison, Wis.
Nielsen Tennis Stadium
Singles:
1. Katie Klyczec (IU) def. Lauren Chypyha (WIS) 6-4, 6-3
2. Alecia Kauss (IU) def. Maria Avgerinos (WIS) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Ekaterina Stepanova (WIS) def. Shannon Murdy (IU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
4. Paula Gutierrez (IU) def. Lauren Burich (WIS) 6-4, 6-4
5. Sydney Rider (WIS) def. Stephanie Smith (IU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Carolyn Chupa (IU) def. Kelsey Grambeau (WIS) 7-6, 6-4
Doubles:
1. Lauren Chypyha/Kelsey Grambeau (WIS) def. Alecia Kauss/Carolyn Chupa (IU) 8-6
2. Ekaterina Stepanova/Sydney Rider (WIS) def. Katie Klyczek/Schmider (IU) 8-6
3. Maria Avgerinos/Lauren Burich (WIS) vs. Stephanie Smith/Shannon Murdy (IU) 7-5 unfinished
Order of finish:
Doubles: 2, 1
Singles: 5, 1, 4, 3, 6, 2
Players Mentioned
