The stage was set Saturday afternoon at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium for potentially one of the largest upset in Badger tennis history.
However, the University of Wisconsin men's tennis team (2-6 Big Ten, 9-10 overall) split six singles matches with an injury-plagued Illini line-up, but fell short of the elusive fourth point, as sophomore Jeremy Sonkin and junior Lachezar Kasarov lost in three sets, leaving the Badgers with a 4-3 loss to No. 5 Illinois.
The most important thing is that the guys laid it all out on the line today,\ head coach Greg Van Emburgh said. ""We're a young team and we're competing every time we get out on the court. Today, we had our shot. We saw how close we can come to a top five team.""
UW was lead by a trio of sophomores in singles play. Felipe Bellido defeated Marc Spicijaric in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 while Nolan Polley downed No. 64 G.D. Jones 7-6 (9), 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Rounding out the group, Elliott Bisnow earned his first singles victory in Big Ten play this season, defeating Brandon Davis in three sets 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
""[Our sophomores] anchored our performance today,"" Van Emburgh said. ""We keyed on them to get points. We built around them and hoped the other guys would step up and get victories. When this happens, the winning will take place.""
Sonkin lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to No. 3 Ryler DeHeart in the most competitive match of the day at No. 1 singles while Kasarov was defeated by Ruben Gonzales at No. 3 6-2, 6-7, 6-2.
Illinois began the day by capturing the doubles point for the 17th time this season, improving their record to 17-0 when winning the doubles point.
Still, Saturday's effort was enough for the Badgers' first-year coach to recognize the positive strides his team has taken this season.
""These guys are seeing the potential they have and what we're trying to create,"" Van Emburgh said. ""We want to get a couple more wins this year and build momentum. The one thing that we don't want to do is underestimate Purdue in tomorrow's match because we played a top-five team like Illinois close. We want to focus on tomorrow's match because that's most important.""
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.\
