Box Score

April 5, 2015

MADISON, Wis. -- Sunday's women's tennis match between Wisconsin and Iowa had everything a tennis fan could dream of from contested line calls, back and forth momentum swings and a hero: Wisconsin freshman Ekaterina Stepanova.

The St. Petersburg, Russia, native won her thrilling, three-set singles match on Court No. 3 to lead the Badgers to a 4-3 over the Hawkeyes at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

Stepanova cruised to a first set victory, 6-0 over Iowa's Annette Dohanics on the third court, but Dohanics rallied to take the second set 6-4. That only served to set the stage for a riveting, match-deciding third set. Stepanova fell behind 3-1 in the third set, but rallied back to take a 4-3 lead. From there, the two players traded games until the score was knotted at 6 games apiece, and they proceeded to a best of 12 tiebreaker.

"Going into the tiebreaker," Stepanova said. "I was thinking that I need to win for my team and for my family."

As both teams and spectators created an electric atmosphere, Stepanova did just that, winning the tiebreaker by a score of 7-4 to lift the Badgers to their fourth-straight conference win.

"I'm happy I was able to win the match," Stepanova said. "In the second set I was winning, and I felt like I was supposed to win in two, but I'm really happy I managed to win a hard match. I'm glad I did it. I was playing better in the tiebreak and so it feels good."

Her match-clinching point was made possible by the earlier singles wins of the day.

Kelsey Grambeau and Lauren Burich were the first players off of their courts, as Burich defeated Iowa's Katie Zordani 6-1, 6-0 on the fourth court, while Grambeau knocked off Aimee Tarun, 6-3, 6-2 on the sixth.

Maria Avgerinos tied the score at three with her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Anastasia Reimchen on the number two singles court.

"We all fought to the end," UW head coach Tina Samara said. "Matches like this come down to pure desire. I think we have been more committed, and that's when you start seeing these victories go our way. Those little things that we've been doing the last month or so are starting to pay off. Our team is starting to really believe in what we can do."

The Badgers will look to keep their winning streak going next weekend with a pair of home matches at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Wisconsin takes on Illinois on Friday before wrapping the weekend up with a match against No. 21 Northwestern on Sunday.

Wisconsin 4, Iowa 3
Madison, Wis.
Nielsen Tennis Stadium
Singles:

1. Morven McCulloch (IOWA) def. Lauren Chypyha (WIS) 6-4, 6-3
2. Maria Avgerinos (WIS) def. Anastasia Reimchen (IOWA) 6-4, 6-3
3. Ekaterina Stepanova (WIS) def. Annette Dohanics (IOWA) 6-0, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4)
4. Lauren Burich (WIS) def. Katie Zordani (IOWA) 6-1, 6-0
5. Zoe Douglas (IOWA) def. Sydney Rider (WIS) 6-4, 6-2
6. Kelsey Grambeau (WIS) def. Aimee Tarun (IOWA) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles:

1. Annette Dohanics/Morven McCulloch (IOWA) def. Lauren Chypyha/Kelsey Grambeau (WIS) 8-1
2. Katie Zordani/Zoe Douglas (IOWA) def. Ekaterina Stepanova/Sydney Rider (WIS) 8-7
3. Lauren Burich/Maria Avgerinos (WIS) def. Anastasia Reimchen/Aimee Tarun (IOWA) 8-5