They came so close, but it just wasn't enough.
The No. 27 Wisconsin men's tennis team nearly shook Ohio State's iron grip on the Big Ten, but succumbed to the No. 4 Buckeyes in an agonizingly close 4-3 result in their last home match of the season Sunday afternoon.
""You win the doubles and you've got to split the singles. I thought we had a good chance at that. The guys played good throughout the lineup, singles and doubles, and just a little unfortunate that we came on the short end of the stick,"" head coach Greg Van Emburgh said. ""You hope fairy tales work out sometimes, but it was not to be today.""
Tied at 3-3, both team's fates rested on the third and final set between seniors No. 19 Moritz Baumann and No. 40 Justin Kronauge at the No. 2 slot. Baumann went for broke and settled the first set in a tiebreak but dropped the second, saving only seven of the nine break opportunities he allowed Kronauge.
In the third, the Badger steadied, serving three consecutive love holds while Kronauge spun in timid second serves and fans on both sides alternated between dead silence and enthusiastic roars. At 3-4 Baumann doubled faulted to surrender his service to Kronauge, who took it to triple match point, using only the first to put down the Badger and shatter dreams of a late upset at Nielsen 6(4)-7, 6-3, 6-3.
""He wasn't himself, and he may have ran out of gas,"" Van Emburgh said, explaining the go-to star had been struggling with illness the past few days and was unable to train properly. ""You're hoping that he's going to be able to dig deep enough and play hard enough to give him a chance at least, and it was a little unfortunate there.""
The win looked promising for Wisconsin (7-3 Big Ten, 18-7 conference) from the start when the Badgers wrestled the doubles advantage away from Ohio State. Losing the proset at No. 3 first, the Badgers recovered at No. 2 where sophomore Patrick Pohlmann and senior Michael Dierberger won five straight games to come back and win 8-6. At No. 1, powerful serves on both sides forced a tiebreak, where Baumann and junior partner Marek Michalicka pulled away and won 9-8(2). For the UW offensive, the point was key, and opened up the opportunity to split the singles points and slip away with the match.
""Especially against Ohio we want to win the doubles point because we know that everybody from Ohio can beat anybody from us and the other way around too,"" Pohlmann said about the unpredictable singles results. ""It's actually a huge advantage.""
The Buckeyes responded in singles by picking off freshmen Chris Freeman and Billy Bertha at No. 4 and 5, before No. 10 sophomore Chase Buchanan ran away with his second set, cutting No. 28 Michalicka 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1. Although they trailed, the Badgers split first sets with the Buckeyes, and Pohlmann quickly followed with an encouraging victory at No. 3. All the shots seemed to work for the Badger who showed deadly accuracy on his serve and was not broken once in his routine 6-2, 6-2 success.
""I played really consistent from the baseline too, I felt confident with my forehand, I tried to play aggressive and my foot work was good today,"" he said.
Senior Luke Rassow-Kantor celebrated Senior Day by taking his first set 6-4 and second in a tiebreak 7-6(6) to the clamour of a crowd hopeful Baumann would pull it out in the end at No. 2. For Rassow-Kantor, the emotional victory was a great way to end his collegiate career, but he explained, ""It would have meant more if we as a team had won.""
But in the end, it came down to a slim margin and the Badgers were on the wrong side.
""Everybody stood behind everybody, and that shows our team spirit,"" Pohlmann said. ""Everybody gave everything off the court or on the court.""
With the victory, Ohio State (10-0 Big Ten, 29-1 overall) secures its fifth consecutive outright Big Ten title and extends its current winning streak against the Badgers to 18. For the Badgers, who also marked a 6-1 victory over Penn State on Friday, it is a fourth place finish.
""[We've] just got to take confidence out of it,"" Rassow-Kantor said. ""It's one of the best teams in the country and we could have beaten them.""
""It was just the one match that decided it, so we should get a lot out of it,"" Pohlmann said. ""We have another chance next week to beat them.""
The program can still reach Van Emburgh's goal of a Big Ten title by winning next weekend's conference tournament. The NCAAs are still in the picture, but the fourth place finish in conference was not what he expected.
""We could have done a little better. I thought some of those 4-3s we could have come out on the other end,"" he said. ""If you look at the match today people would have said, ‘Well, Ohio State is going to beat Wisconsin for sure, 5-2 at the least. And we were right there to win that match today. The guys were able to prove what they're capable of.""
