The No. 32 UW men's tennis team closed its home season with a pair of victories, a 6-1 victory over No. 53 Iowa on Saturday and a 7-0 sweep of rival Minnesota on Sunday.
Sunday, Badger seniors Felipe Bellido, Nolan Polley and Jeremy Sonkin were honored in their final home match between doubles and singles matches, each receiving a framed picture collage from their years of play at UW. Each senior concluded their final chapter at Nielsen Tennis Stadium with wins.
They've been sort of the heart and soul of it the last couple years,"" assistant coach Evan Austin said. ""It's been a program that when [coach] Greg [Van Emburgh] came he had to turn around and these guys have been instrumental in it. They've won a lot of big matches.""
Bellido, a Lima, Peru, native, took down the Gophers' Chi-Lang Pham 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5 singles. His win clinched the match for the Badgers (7-2 Big Ten, 15-8 overall).
""In the last two or three weeks [Bellido is] playing with a lot more confidence than he's played with the whole year,"" Austin said. ""I think he's back to where he was last year when he led the team in wins.""
Polley rebounded from a tough first set to defeat Minnesota's Tobias Wernet 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. The Lexington, Ky., native improved to 8-1 in Big Ten dual matches and 16-4 overall.
""It's been a good couple years and it's almost over,"" Polley said. ""I've done really well this year, and I'm glad I can go out at home on a good note.""
Sonkin pulled out a 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 triumph over Dino Bilankov of Minnesota (3-5, 5-15). The UW senior said he lost to Bilankov in the fall and admitted he was a little uneasy when he saw the Gopher's name in the lineup.
""He came out in the first set, didn't miss a ball and was playing some good tennis, and I mentally just lost it,"" Sonkin said. ""Then I started to play my game, stepping into the court and hitting the ball instead of being on the defensive the entire time. He started to give me some errors, and I just kind of rolled from there.""
On Saturday, the Badgers won the opening doubles point and did not look back against the Hawkeyes (2-5, 10-8). The three UW seniors as well as sophomore Michael Dierberger and freshman Marek Michalicka notched victories for the Badgers. Michalicka pushed his record to 19-2 in dual matches with his duo of weekend wins.
Austin is pleased with where the team stands, but knows there is more to be done.
""I think we're close,"" Austin said. ""We're going to have to do a couple things a little better if we want to be able to beat an Ohio State and get through to the finals of the conference tournament ... We've had a lot of close matches with teams that are basically top-10, top-15 teams, so I think our best tennis is going to be ahead of us, that's for sure.""
Next up for the Badgers is No. 73 Michigan State Sunday in East Lansing, Mich. The match concludes regular season play for UW.
Women's recap
The UW women's tennis team picked up its first conference victory of the season, a 6-1 upset win over No. 47 Iowa Sunday in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Badgers (1-8 Big Ten, 8-13 overall) clinched the match when senior Morgan Tuttle closed out Iowa's Kayla Berry 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
UW started the match by taking two of three doubles matches to grab the opening doubles point. After splitting the first two completed singles matches, the Badgers won the last four for the final margin. The Hawkeyes dropped to 2-6 in the Big Ten and 11-8 overall.
On Saturday, the Badgers were swept by No. 73 Minnesota 7-0. The Gophers (2-5, 12-8) allowed the Badgers just one match, an 8-4 victory by senior Chelsea Nusslock and sophomore Katya Mirnova at No. 3 doubles.
The Badgers will host No. 59 Michigan State this Sunday for their final match of the regular season. It will mark the final home match for Nusslock and Tuttle, the Badgers' two seniors.
--uwbadgers.com contributed to the women's tennis recap.
