The University of Wisconsin women's tennis team stumbled to the end of it fall season with a lackluster performance last weekend at the Indiana Invitational.
The Badgers finished with an overall record of 3-12 in singles and 1-8 in doubles at the invitational. The tournament was a three-day, four-team, round-robin-style tournament featuring Wisconsin, Indiana, Western Michigan and DePaul and took place at the IU Tennis Center in Bloomington, Ind.
Wisconsin was competing without two top players in senior Liz Carpenter and sophomore Jessica Seyferth and struggled on the tournament's first day.
The Badgers went 0-3 in doubles play against DePaul, but the young tandem of freshman Aleksandra Markovic and sophomore Alaina Trgovich lost a tightly contested match by a score of 9-8.
Trgovich was one of the stronger players of the weekend and demonstrated that on Friday, notching a singles victory over Alba Berdala of Indiana in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. Senior Elizabeth Dolan, who defeated Maria Guerreiro 6-2, 6-2 for her first singles victory of the season, joined Trgovich in the winner's column on day one. However, Trgovich and Dolan were the lone bright spots for the Badgers in their opening-day singles round against Indiana, as the rest of the team went 0-6.
After disappointing results on day one, the Badgers continued to struggle.
The Badgers fought hard in three matches against Western Michigan in doubles, finishing 1-2. Sophomore Emese Kardhordo and up-and-coming freshman Angela Chupa, who has been playing well of late, narrowly edged Kerstin Pahl and April Kerr 9-8 for the victory. Trgovich and junior Katya Mirnova also played well, but lost to Emily Dudzik and Yumi Matsuto by a score of 9-8.
Wisconsin also faced Indiana in doubles on Saturday but did not fair as well, dropping all three matches.
In a round of singles against DePaul, the Badgers finished 1-6 but were a few tie-break points away from a much better finish. Chupa split the first two sets of her match against Gia McKnight, but then dropped the tiebreaker 10-4. Then, senior Erin Jobe lost a 6-7, 6-7 straight-set heartbreaker. The lone singles victory on day two belonged to freshman Dana Larsen with a resounding defeat of Cali Gustafson, 6-4, 6-1.
On Sunday, the Badgers concluded the tournament with their most successful round going 2-5 in singles play against Western Michigan. Jobe rebounded from her Saturday defeat with a tiebreak victory over Amanda Moccisa, 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9). Larsen recorded the other victory for Wisconsin, winning in a similar fashion against April Kerr, 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9).
The overall record from the invitational will not impress many, but heading into the spring season the Badgers found some young talent they hope can continue to improve. Trgovich. Chupa and Larsen all played well in the tournament.
The Badgers' season restarts Jan 24 against DePaul at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
