MADISON, Wis. – The No. 37 Wisconsin men's tennis team kept rolling this Friday, knocking off No. 56 Iowa, 4-1, to kick off the second half of its season.  

The remainder of UW's schedule faces a competitive Big Ten conference, but that doesn't seem to intimidate the red-hot Badgers (12-1, 2-0 Big Ten), who are off to their best start in 43 years.

"Iowa's a very good team," said head coach Danny Westerman. "We got to three points relatively quickly, but that fourth point—Iowa kept hanging around so credit to them."

Wisconsin started the match strong, quickly dispatching Iowa in doubles play to claim the overall point. Sophomores Josef Dodridge and Lamar Remy defeated Iowa's Jake Jacoby and Lefteris Theodorou, 6-2, at the No. 1 spot for their 11th win of the year as a duo. 

Westerman mixed it up at the No. 3 spot, putting sophomore Darius Mackenzie and junior John Zordani together, which worked in Wisconsin's favor as the duo defeated Robin Haden and Jonas Larsen, 6-2. 

In singles action, sophomore Chema Carranza collected a win at the No. 5 spot, defeating Robin Haden, 6-2, 7-5. Freshman Osgar O'Hoisin added to the Badger lead after winning the No. 4 position against Jonas Larsen, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. 

Up 3-1 on the Hawkeyes, the Badgers needed one more win to clinch the match and remain undefeated in conference play. It was John Zordani, who's played just three matches this spring, that stepped up and got the job done. 

Battling back from losing his first set, Zordani took down Jake Jacoby at the No. 6 spot in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, clinching the 4-1 victory for the Badgers. 

"I was really proud of him," Westerman said of Zordani. "He hasn't played very much, but he's really improved over the spring and stayed positive."

Though Westerman urged his team to savor the moment, Wisconsin remains focused as it preps for a road match against Nebraska this Sunday. 

"We still have to get better each day like we talked about in September," said Westerman. "The best teams keep getting better all the way through May, so we have to recover quickly, but it all starts in practice. Come Sunday, I'm sure we'll be ready to go and hopefully we execute."

The Badgers and Cornhuskers will take the courts at 10 a.m. (CT) this Sunday in Wisconsin's third Big Ten matchup of the season.



Results – March 25 

MEN'S SINGLES:
1. Josef Dodridge (UW) vs. Lefteris Theodorou (IOWA), 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 4-2 unfinished
2. Josh Silverstein (IOWA) def. Alexander Kokorev (UW), 7-6 (7-3), 6-1
3. Lamar Remy (UW) vs. Dominic Patrick (IOWA), 6-2, 6-7, 4-5 unfinished
4. Osgar O'Hoisin (UW) def. Jonas Larsen (IOWA), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
5. Chema Carranza (UW) def. Robin Haden (IOWA), 6-2, 7-5
6. John Zordani (UW) def. Jake Jacoby (IOWA), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

MEN'S DOUBLES:
1. Dodridge/Remy (UW) def. Jacoby/Theodorou (IOWA), 6-2
2. Carranza/Jalalov (UW) vs. Patrick/Silverstein (IOWA), 4-3 unfinished
3. Mackenzie/Zordani (UW) def. Haden/Larsen (IOWA), 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (1, 3); Singles (2, 5, 4, 6)