Sunday, 04/15/2012

MADISON, Wis. -- In a thrilling Sunday afternoon match, the Wisconsin women’s tennis team captured its first win over No. 47 Indiana since the 2003 season with a 5-2 upset victory at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

The win snaps Wisconsin’s four-match losing streak and puts the Badgers over .500 on the season at 11-10 and 2-7 in the Big Ten. The loss sets Indiana back to 15-8 and 4-5 in the league.

“I think we outfought them [Indiana] today,” UW head coach Brian Fleishman said. “I think we competed better than they did, and I think that was the difference in the match.”

UW used wins from courts one and three to record the doubles point and take an early advantage. In the first two doubles matches, UW split with the Hoosiers after a win on court one and a defeat at No. 2.

At No. 1, senior Alaina Trgovich and sophomore Nicky Stracar took down the duo of Sophie Garre and Katie Klyczek, 8-5, while junior Hannah Berner and freshman Nova Patel dropped an 8-6 decision to Evgeniya Vertesheva and Kayla Fujimoto at No. 2.

Freshman Sarah Loebel and senior Angela Chupa rallied from a 4-0 deficit to defeat Leslie Hureau and Shannon Murdy, 8-6, on court three and clinch the doubles point for Wisconsin.

With Wisconsin taking an early 1-0 lead into singles play, the Hoosiers answered by taking the first two singles matches to go up 2-1 in the match.

At No. 2, Vertesheva recorded a 6-2, 6-1 over Stracar, while Murdy topped Patel, 6-2, 6-4 at court five.

Two wins would be all the Hoosiers would get, however, as Wisconsin claimed victories on the final four singles courts.

At court six, senior Aleksandra Markovic tallied Wisconsin’s first singles win after defeating Fujimoto, 7-5, 6-4.

In the remaining three singles matches, the Badgers came out on top in the deciding third set, beginning with Trgovich at the No. 1 spot.

Trgovich registered her first career victory over a ranked opponent after knocking off No. 65 Hureau, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Berner clinched UW’s second conference win with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 victory on court three. The Badger junior got off to a quick start, winning the first seven games of the match before Klyczek gained momentum to take the second set. Klyczek came out strong in the third set as well, taking a 3-1 lead, but Berner regained control to finish off the Indiana freshman.

“My teammates really cheered me on and believed in me,” Berner said. “I just stayed calm and worked point-by-point and pulled it through.”

Loebel recorded her third-straight win at court four to finish off the Wisconsin upset. After dropping the first set, 6-3, and going down, 3-2, in the second set, the freshman turned things around to take the second set, 6-3, before defeating Alecia Kauss, 6-1, in the third. 

UW closes out the road portion of its regular season Friday with a trip to Iowa. The matchup between the Badgers and Hawkeyes is slated for 12 p.m. in Iowa City, Iowa.

Doubles:
1.)Nicky Stracar / Alaina Trgovich (UW) def. Sophie Garre / Katie Klyczek (IND), 8-5
2.)Evgeniya Vertesheva/ Kayla Fujimoto (IND) def. Nova Patel  / Hannah Berner (UW), 8-6
3.) Angela Chupa / Sarah Loebel (UW) def. Leslie Hureau/Shannon Murdy (IND), 8-6

Order of finish:
2, 1, 3

Singles:
1.) Alaina Trgovich (UW) def. No. 65 Leslie Hureau (IND), 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
2.) Evgeniya Vertesheva (IND) def. Nicky Stracar (UW), 6-2, 6-1
3.) Hannah Berner (UW) def. Katie Klyczek (IND), 6-0, 4-6, 6-3
4.) Sarah Loebel (UW) def. Alecia Kauss (IND), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
5.) Shannon Murdy (IND), 6-2, 6-4 def. Nova Patel (UW), 6-2, 6-4
6.) Aleksandra Markovic (UW) def. Kayla Fujimoto (IND), 7-5, 6-4

Order of finish:
2, 5, 6, 1, 3, 4