Badgers Tennis: 6-1 Win Over Penn Followed by 6-5 Loss in Tennessee

The Wisconsin men's tennis team split its weekend schedule, defeating Pennsylvania 6-1 at home before falling 6-5 to Middle Tennessee State in a decisive third set. The Badgers improved to a 6-6 overall record and 0-1 in the Big Ten, but they remain without a victory away from Madison this season.

On Friday afternoon, Wisconsin hosted the Pennsylvania Quakers at Nielsen Tennis Center. The Badgers had never defeated the Quakers in program history until this match, snapping a streak that included a 4-3 loss the previous year. Senior Josef Dodridge and junior Osgar O'Hoisin secured the doubles point with a 6-1 victory. Sophomores Daniel Soyfer and Chase Colton added a 6-2 win. In singles, Colton, Soyfer, Dodridge, and freshman Jesper Freimuth all won in straight sets. O'Hoisin required three sets, finishing 7-5, 4-6, 10-2.

Wisconsin traveled to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to face Middle Tennessee State, a team with a 10-2 record that had not lost at home and had shut out five opponents. The Badgers took the doubles point, with O'Hoisin and Dodridge winning 6-4 and senior Chema Carranza and Freimuth winning 6-2. Soyfer won his singles match 6-4, 6-3 to reach 10-0 in the discipline for the season.

Middle Tennessee State won the next three singles matches to take a 3-2 lead. Dodridge tied the match at 3-3 with a 7-6, 6-1 win, leaving the final point to Carranza against Tom Moonen. Carranza lost the first set in a tiebreak, then won the second 6-1. In the final set, Carranza led 5-4, but Moonen won the next three games to close out the match 7-5.

Head coach Danny Westerman acknowledged the difficulty of the loss. "This one stings. We need to keep working. We put ourselves in these situations so we can eventually get over the hump," Westerman told UWBadgers.com.

Wisconsin returns to Nielsen Tennis Center next weekend for a Sunday doubleheader against Cornell and UW-Green Bay.