The Wisconsin men's tennis team will try to follow up last Saturday's double victory by tallying another against No. 66 Nebraska Thursday afternoon at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
""We had a good match with SMU and UIC, and they're both solid opponents, but the thing that we want to make sure we do is, not only have a tough schedule, but a consistent schedule,"" head coach Greg Van Emburgh said. ""You don't want to have too many breaks, too many gaps in your schedule because then things kind of get stale, and when you're setting high goals, you want to make sure your guys are ready to play at every match.""
Less than a week after convincing wins against No. 69 SMU (4-0) and UIC (6-1), the No. 25 Badgers will be up against a fresher Nebraska squad. Even though senior No. 6-ranked Moritz Baumann has not spent much time on the court yet, the Badger lineup has surged up through the ranks. Baumann's captain No. 20 junior Marek Michalicka has held down the No. 1 singles position convincingly, going 4-0 in his appearances. But Van Emburgh explains that this year's squad stacks the talent deep.
""Depth is definitely a plus on our team this year,"" Van Emburgh said. ""A lot of our guys are really stepping up and doing a great job from singles to doubles, on down our lineup.""
Unlike the Badgers' quick turnaround, the Huskers (3-2) arrive in Madison after more than two weeks of rest. Ranked at No. 66—a number that Van Emburgh and his players do not think reflects the team's skill—the Huskers boast three top-100 players, including No. 30 sophomore Christopher Aumueller and No. 91 senior Francois Van Impe, both of who are undefeated this season.
""They're an aggressive team, and they're looking to move their ranking up because their really not a 66 team ... and they know that,"" senior and co-captain Michael Dierberger said.
Nebraska already collected one win against a ranked opponent in No. 56 Radford, but fell in their next two meetings, 4-3 to No. 37 Minnesota and No. 63 Denver.
""They lost a couple close matches, and they're just waiting for their chance to turn one of those matches around,"" Van Emburgh said. ""Here's their chance, and I think were going to be well prepared and ready for the battle.""
Between Wisconsin and Nebraska stats are only worth so much as the teams have only faced each other three times, but the Huskers lead the Badgers 2-1. For the Badgers, this is their chance to settle the score, and the players are up for the challenge. They acknowledge that strategy can only carry you so far because it will always come down to the team that pulls out that fourth point.
""The doubles point is probably going be huge because then they have a good singles lineup where their top-three are ranked,"" Dierberger said.
Still more than a month away from the beginning of conference play, the Badgers' elevated ranking and stunning FSU upset are making waves in collegiate tennis, making them serious contenders of conference championship caliber. The Badgers said they do not concern themselves with that kind of talk yet, as many difficult teams remain to play.
""Illinois and Ohio State, they are not as good as last year, but this year they are still great,"" junior and captain Marek Michalicka said. ""There are other teams, like Minnesota too. We'll try to play our best, I guess, and we'll see how it ends up.""
Although Van Emburgh acknowledges the goal, he too sees the season far from set.
""That's been one of the goals of mine in my six years now, but you just got to take it match by match,"" he said. ""You can't really look into the future. You never know what's going to happen if there's an injury, or you have bumps in the road, so we just want to take it one match at a time and that starts on Thursday at 4:15 with Nebraska.""
