Wisconsin was hoping to snap their four-match losing streak when it traveled to Michigan this weekend to take on a pair of quality conference foes.
However, the Badgers (2-7 Big Ten, 7-10 overall) were unable to find much success, dropping consecutive matches against No. 60 Michigan State and No. 14 Michigan to push their losing streak to six.
UW’s weekend started Friday in East Lansing, Mich., where they lost 6-1 to the Spartans (5-4, 17-6).
Michigan State clinched the doubles point early on by winning the first two matches.
The Spartans’ junior Julianne Gruber and sophomore Emily Meyers topped redshirt sophomore Nova Patel and sophomore Anastasia Tripolskaya 8-3 in No. 2 doubles, while the country’s No. 57-ranked doubles team of senior Marina Bohrer and freshman Erin Faulkner cruised to an 8-2 victory in No. 1 doubles over Wisconsin sophomores Lauren Burich and Lauren Chypyha.
Wisconsin’s lone point came courtesy of Tripolskaya, who rallied after dropping the first set to beat junior Catherine Parenteau in No. 3 singles 3-6, 6-4, 1-0.
The Badgers didn’t fare much better Sunday in Ann Arbor, losing 6-1 to the Big Ten-leading Wolverines.
Like the Spartans, Michigan (9-0, 17-3) captured the doubles point by winning the first two matches.
The No. 15-ranked doubles team of senior Brooke Bolender and junior Emina Bektas beat Burich and Chypyha 8-2 in No. 1 doubles.
Junior Sarah Lee and sophomore Amy Zhu, the nation’s No. 79-ranked doubles team, followed that up by dominating Patel and Tripolskaya 8-1 in No. 2 doubles.
Tripolskaya once again recorded UW’s only point by winning her singles match, this time beating sophomore Ronit Yurovsky, the country’s No. 20-ranked player.
Tripolskaya once against fought back from a first set loss, upsetting Yurovsky 0-6, 7-5, 1-0 in what was the highlight of an otherwise forgettable weekend for the Badgers.
UW returns home next weekend, hosting Northwestern and Illinois to close out the regular season.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
