The Wisconsin men's tennis team edged out the No. 21 Wake Forest Demon Deacons for a 4-3 victory in the last minutes of singles play at Sunday afternoon's meet at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
After suffering a close loss to Louisville two weeks ago, Wisconsin head coach Greg Van Emburgh could not have asked for a better result or a more dramatic way to earn the win. With the meet leveled at 3-3, sophomore Peter Marrack was the only Badger left on the courts, battling out a decisive third set at the No. 6 singles position.
With a break to level at 5-5 and a solid hold to move to 6-5, Marrack forced Wake Forest junior Jason Morgenstern to stay in the match, as coaches and players assembled around the last court and unsuspecting Badger hero.
""I thought we had already lost because they were yelling at those guys up there and I was like ‘Why is everyone so excited?' And then I was one point away,"" Marrack said. ""So I didn't really get nervous until the last point.""
But one point was all it took for Marrack to pick up another break, winning the match 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 and the meet 4-3.
In doubles play, UW swept the matches to secure the point early on. No. 18 pair junior Moritz Baumann and sophomore Marek Michalicka appeared as a nationally ranked duo for the first time this season, upsetting the national No. 1 senior Cory Parr and junior Steve Forman and maintaining their spotless record.
After eight steady holds, Baumann and Michalicka converted on a triple break point and a Deacon double fault to move up 5-4 at the No. 1 doubles position. The pair followed with another break and two love holds to take the match 8-4 before the Badgers secured the point with a strong 8-2 victory from sophomore Luke Rassow-Kantor and freshman Patrick Pohlmann.
Moving into singles play, the Badgers picked up a straight-set win from Pohlmann at the No. 3 position, who went 7-5 in the first before assuming control of the match and closing the match with a 6-1 second set.
""I knew that it is up to him if he stays aggressive,"" Pohlmann said of Deacon junior Andrew Brasseaux. ""I just had to play consistently and his level went down.""
At No. 2, Baumann, who moved from No. 117 to No. 36 nationally in last week's ITA rankings, delivered his ninth win this season to remain undefeated. Although Baumann struggled to take control of the first set against Steve Forman before the tiebreak, he came back in the second to win it straight out 7-6(4), 7-5.
""[Forman] has a really big serve and a really big forehand so you don't get a lot of opportunities to get on that guy and to beat him,"" Baumann said. ""The opportunities you have, you really have to take them.""
Conversely, Badgers junior Michael Muskievicz and junior Michael Dierberger fell in straight sets to their Wake Forest opponents, as did No. 60 Michalicka at the No. 1 position who nearly faced match point in the second set but forced a decisive third.
After dropping his second set 1-6, it was Marrack who nudged the Badgers to the win, picking up two telling breaks in the third set.
With this weekend's win, the No. 43 Badger men improve to a record of 7-2 for the season as they approach Big Ten play.
""I told the guys it's going to be a year like that, and I think we're far from peaking where our level is at right now,"" Van Emburgh said. ""This is a team effort, this is a great win by these guys. That's a great team, that's a top-50 team all day long.""
UW will host No. 34 North Carolina State (6-5) Feb. 28 once again at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
