As much as talent determines fruition in team sports, so does the camaraderie of the players, and this year's UW women's tennis team has proven the combination can amount to a great deal of success.
With a very young and energetic team, the Badgers have bonded on and off the tennis court this regular season to carry the program to a 13-10 record overall and a 6-4 record in Big Ten play. While the success of the team has come as a surprise to some, for the 10 girls representing UW, it was something expected.
\I could kind of tell at the beginning of the year, just by the way everyone interacted, that it was going to be a successful year,"" sophomore Katie McGaffigan said. ""I think that the team this year is so close and everyone gets along so well that the success has just grown out of that. Everyone is really talented, but I think it's the fact that everyone gets along so well that it makes us that much more motivated.""
The 53rd-ranked Badgers will begin postseason play this weekend as they travel to Evanston, Ill. for the Big Ten Championships. Despite losing their regular season finale Sunday at Michigan, the fourth-seeded Badgers will get a rematch with the fifth-seeded Wolverines-a team that blanked UW 7-0, ending its six-match winning streak at the end of the season. However, this time around, the Badgers are optimistic at the chance to redeem themselves and knock off a Michigan team that has defeated UW five times in a row.
""I think it really fires us up having to play them again in the first round of the Big Tens on Friday,"" freshman Caitlin Burke said. ""I think we are all looking forward to playing them again and hopefully we'll win this time.""
""It just makes us all the more motivated to go out there during the tournament,"" McGaffigan said. ""They have all the pressure, so it kind of just makes it easier on us to go out there and play our best.""
The pressure is definitely on the squad from Michigan to prevail in the quarterfinals Friday because of the upper hand they have had recently and the expectations of repeating a performance similar to that of the last match of the regular season.
Michigan will be led by junior Michelle DaCosta (20-11) and freshman Elizabeth Exon (26-12), both of whom are listed among the top singles players in the nation. On the doubles side, DaCosta and freshman Kara Delicata, who are 13-6 on the year as a pair, are ranked No. 38, higher than any pair on the Badgers' side. Michigan also boasts a strong No. 2 doubles pair in Kim Plaushines and Debra Streifler, who are 24-6 overall this season.
The Badgers, whose singles game is one of the weaker points of the team, will have to rely heavily on their No. 1 and No. 2 doubles pairs. Burke and senior Teresa Gonzaga, 9-0 this season and ranked 56th nationally, will be UW's No. 1, while McGaffigan and junior Lindsay Martin will represent UW's No. 2 pair. McGaffigan will also be the team's No. 1 singles player for the tournament.
""They may have an advantage in singles, but I'd say the advantage that we have is the way the team gets along this year, and I think that is going to be our biggest strength because everyone is going out there with support and the drive to win,"" McGaffigan said.
Entering the final leg of the season, fatigue and injuries are not options for this UW team, which hopes that its motivation to win will carry them through a successful run for the conference championship.
""A lot of the the Big Ten teams have been hurting right now, but our team is up to the task and ready to go,"" McGaffigan said.
