MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin had its hands full on Friday afternoon at the Nielsen for a home match against the No. 12-ranked Michigan Wolverines. That didn't mean the Badgers were weren't up for the challenge. UW battled hard in front of a crowded Nielsen house to an incredibly close match that ended in a 4-3 loss.
The Badgers loss came by a single point, something the Cardinal and White battled for so hard in the doubles category. The No. 3 pair, senior
Lamar Remy and sophomore
Chase Colton, fell 6-4, but UW's No. 4-ranked senior duo of
Chema Carranza and
Josef Dodridge picked them up with a 6-3 win at the No. 1 spot.
It was all up to sophomore
Daniel Soyfer and junior
Osgar O'Hoisin to secure the win for the Badgers, but the duo fell in a tie-breaker to Runhao Hua and Mattias Siimar, 7-6.
Wisconsin really took the reins in the singles category. Down a point, the Badgers felt the pressure and fought back to make the match one to remember.
Remy and Dodridge led the Badgers out of the gate fast, tallying two points for the Cardinal and White. Both seniors won their matches in straight sets. Dodridge earned arguably the biggest win of his career, knocking off No. 34 Runhao Hua, 6-4, 6-0. Remy took down No. 124-ranked Mattias Siimar, 6-2, 6-0.
Trailing 3-2, Wisconsin turned to Soyfer and Carranza for a chance to steal the win.
Soyfer faced Alex Knight, the No. 11 player in the country and Michigan's highest ranked player. But it was all an opportunity to learn and grow for Soyfer, as he appeared unphased against Goliath. In the end, Knight came out on top, but Soyfer wouldn't go down easy. He battled back from down a set to win the second frame, 6-4. The Plantation, Florida, native took it all the way to a third set tie-breaker and lost barely, 7-5, to give the Wolverines the clinch.
Carranza would finish a short while later with a three-set win over Myles Schalet, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6. His win signaled the third singles win of the day for the Badgers, all of which came at the hands of seniors in their final home weekend of their careers.
Westerman's Wing: "We played at the level I know we can play at. I think we proved to ourselves that we can compete with the best – even without the doubles point. We've been very successful with it and not so successful without it. I feel like today we showed a lot of grit and a lot of fight. We showed ourselves what we are made of as a team."
"It means a lot to them (the seniors). They dug in. It is the last weekend of home – that has to play a part of it. You can either sink or swim in some of these moments. We definitely swam. Our guys came to play today."
Up Next: Wisconsin celebrates Senior Day on Sunday at noon against Michigan State. Admission is free.
Wisconsin 3, #12 Michigan 4
Friday, April 13, 2018
Nielsen Tennis Stadium | Madison, Wis.
| #1 SINGLES |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Notes |
| #11 Alex Knight, Michigan |
6 |
4 |
7 |
Order of finish: 5 |
| Daniel Soyfer, Wisconsin |
3 |
6 |
6 |
|
|
| #2 SINGLES |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Notes |
| #34 Runhao Hua, Michigan |
4 |
0 |
|
Order of finish: 2 |
| Josef Dodridge, Wisconsin |
6 |
6 |
|
|
|
| #3 SINGLES |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Notes |
| #124 Mattias Siimar, Michigan |
2 |
0 |
|
Order of finish: 1 |
| Lamar Remy, Wisconsin |
6 |
6 |
|
|
|
| #4 SINGLES |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Notes |
| Myles Schalet, Michigan |
6 |
6 |
6 |
Order of finish: 6 |
| Chema Carranza, Wisconsin |
4 |
7 |
7 |
|
|
| #5 SINGLES |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Notes |
| Carter Lin, Michigan |
6 |
7 |
|
Order of finish: 4 |
| Osgar O'Hoisin, Wisconsin |
4 |
5 |
|
|
|
| #6 SINGLES |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Notes |
| Davis Crocker, Michigan |
6 |
6 |
|
Order of finish: 3 |
| Robert Krill, Wisconsin |
4 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| #3 DOUBLES |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Notes |
| Alex Knight/Harrison Brown, Michigan |
6 |
|
|
Order of finish: 1 |
| Lamar Remy/Chase Colton, Wisconsin |
4 |
|
|
|
|
