MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women's tennis team (5-12, 2-6) has been on the wrong end of numerous 4-3 matches this season, but they were on the right end at Nielsen Tennis Stadium on Sunday morning. After falling to Michigan 4-3 the night before, the Badgers rebounded in thrilling fashion to take down Michigan State (9-7, 1-3) by the same score.

"I think the level we played today actually wasn't quite as good as yesterday, but what I keep telling the team is that the best teams win when they're not playing great and that's the difference between good teams and average teams," head coach Tina Samara explained. "Everyone can win when they're playing well, but the best teams win when they're not. They find ways to win points even when they're not playing their best and I think that's what we did today."

The excitement got started early as Wisconsin stormed the doubles courts with a purpose. Down a match after MSU's Athena Trouillot and Aslina Chua picked off Kelsey Grambeau and Kendall Kirsch, 6-4, the Badgers knew they needed wins on courts 1 and 2 to earn the doubles point.

After falling behind early, Lauren Chypyha and Lauren Burich battled back on court 1 to tie the match at 6-all and force a tiebreaker against Erin Faulkner and Allie Baer. Meanwhile, roles were flipped on court 2 as Ekaterina Stepanova and Sydney Rider got out to an early lead before Emily Meyer and Emily Metcalf battled back to also force a tiebreaker at 6-all.

It was all Wisconsin from here as Chypyha and Burich went on to win the tiebreaker 7-2, handing Faulkner and Baer their first loss of the season together, while Stepanova and Rider clinched the doubles point for the Badgers by winning the tiebreaker 7-4.

Wisconsin then turned to the singles courts to build on their lead. However, the Spartans wouldn't go quietly, tying it up quickly as UW's Maria Avgerinos had to withdraw due to an injury.

In addition, Chua and Meyers both picked up victories over Burich and Grambeau, 6-1, 6-4 and 6-3, 6-4, respectively, to extend Michigan State's lead to 3-1.

The Badgers battled back though, beginning with Kirsch who knocked off Trouillot, 6-2, 7-5.

"I know Kendall didn't have her best match in terms of what it looked like, but she found a way to get the win," Samara said. "As a freshman, in her first dual match season, I think that's huge."

Chypyha, who recorded the highest-ranked win of her career just a day before by knocking off No. 14 Ronit Yurovsky, kept the pedal down on Sunday as she tied the match up at 3-all with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Faulkner.

With Sunday's win, Chypyha now holds sole possession of fifth place on UW's all-time wins list with 92 career victories.

With the match all tied up at 3, all eyes were on court two where Stepanova also looked to back up her impressive victory from Saturday (over No. 15 Brienne Minor). With all the fans and her teammates cheering her on, Stepanova withheld a late surge from Lexi Baylis to clinch a 4-3 victory for the Badgers with a 7-5, 6-3 win.

"As for Chyps and Kate, I can't talk enough about what they're doing at the top of the lineup on a consistent basis," added Samara. "Hopefully we can give them some more consistent help from the other spots moving forward though."

The Badgers will be back in action on Friday, April 15 as they head to Bloomington, Indiana to take on the Hoosiers. The match is set to begin at 2 p.m. (CT).   
 
Results
Wisconsin 4 - Michigan State 3
Doubles
1. Chypyha/Burich (UW) def. Faulkner/Baer (MSU), 7-6 (2)
2. Stepanova/Rider (UW) def. Meyers/Metcalf (MSU), 7-6 (4)
3. Trouillot/Chua (MSU) def. Grambeau/Kirsch (UW), 6-4

Singles
1. No. 54 Lauren Chypyha (UW) def. Erin Faulkner (MSU), 6-4, 6-2
2. Ekaterina Stepanova (UW) def. Lexi Baylis (MSU), 7-5, 6-3
3. Emily Metcalf (MSU) def. Maria Avgerinos (UW), 6-3, 3-0 (win by retirement)
4. Kendall Kirsch (UW) def. Athena Trouillot (MSU), 6-2, 7-5
5. Emily Meyers (MSU) def. Kelsey Grambeau (UW), 6-3, 6-4
6. Aslina Chua (MSU) def. Lauren Burich (UW), 6-1, 6-4