After advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament in back-to-back years and finishing runner-up in the Big Ten last season, expectations are at an all-time high for the Wisconsin Badgers men's tennis team. That includes fourth-year head coach Greg Van Emburgh.
I think every year with our program we try to continually have success. This year we want to challenge for a Big Ten title, try to make the round of 16 as a team and try to produce the first All-American in the program,"" Van Emburgh said.
The fall season kicks off tomorrow when the 33rd annual Milwaukee Tennis Classic begins at the Western Racquet Club in Elm Grove.
The Badgers will square off against Marquette, Northwestern and Ball State University in the tournament this weekend.
Wisconsin will be without its two top players, junior Moritz Baumann and reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Marek Michalicka, who will begin their season the following week in a tournament at Baylor University. Baumann and Michalicka are ranked 28th and 72nd, respectively, in singles nationally, and are also the 39th-ranked doubles team.
Van Emburgh hopes this tournament and the fall season are the first steps on the long road to a Big Ten title.
""We want to work hard and train hard in the fall. [We also want to] get some match play experience and hopefully have a lot of success and take that momentum into our spring season,"" Van Emburgh said.
Last season, the Badgers thrived in front of Wisconsin fans and finished 11-0 at home. They hope to achieve that impressive record again this season.
Women's Tennis
The Wisconsin women's tennis team has had trouble remaining competitive in previous seasons, but second-year head coach Brian Fleishman is trying to change that attitude.
""Last year we didn't have a lot of options, but this year we have a lot of options, which is great,"" Fleishman said. ""We added five new players, so we kind of changed the culture and the personnel quickly.""
With new faces and a new mentality in
""I think our goals for this year [are:] we want to be top-5 in the Big Ten, top-40 nationally if not higher and we want to be that team people hate playing against,"" Fleishman said.
The Wisconsin women's tennis team also starts its season tomorrow at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic, where they will face players from Marquette, Alabama and Texas A&M.
The team returns to the tournament again after a successful showing last season, especially from sophomore Jessica Seyferth.
As a freshman playing in her first collegiate matches last year, Seyferth finished runner-up in women's singles at the Classic and is hoping to get off to a good start again this season.
""It was a good start to the year, kind of got things rolling, so hopefully I can do that again this year,"" Seyferth said.
The Badgers will rely heavily on senior captains Elizabeth Carpenter and Erin Jobe as they look to improve on last season's 10-14 record.
""They've already done a great job in two weeks, and they've got everybody together and on the same page,"" Fleishman said about his experienced captains. ""Liz [Carpenter] right now is playing by far the best tennis out of anybody. She will start out playing as our No. 1. This is her year.
