Friday, the No. 31 Wisconsin men’s tennis team (8-2) hosted its last two non-conference opponents in a double header.
In the morning, the Badgers faced off against Eastern Illinois (2-9). They kept their remarkable undefeated doubles streak alive early on, as they took three courts at 6-1 a piece to preserve their streak. The duo of juniors Chema Carranza and Josef Dodridge locked down the No. 1 spot for the Badgers, as they have done all season, while junior Lamar Remy and freshman Chase Colton took the No. 2 spot with similar ease. That pair has only dropped two matches the entire season.
Carranza led the way for the Badgers in singles, winning in straight sets against Grant Reiman of EIU. The Badgers ended up sweeping the singles matches in dominant fashion, winning each match handily in straight sets.
Later in the day, Marquette (5-4) visited Nielsen Tennis Arena for the latter half of the double header.
Once again, the Badgers quickly asserted themselves in doubles. They got workmanlike performances out of their No. 2 and No. 3 doubles pairs to continue their now 10-match doubles streak. Senior John Zordani and sophomore Osgar O’Hoisin were the first to rack up a win at the No. 3 spot, dropping just one game in the match. They were followed closely behind by Remy and Colton, who only lost two games themselves.
After breezing through the first four singles matches of the day, things got a little dicey. The first four matches were taken methodically, with wins by Remy, Dodridge, Carranza and O’Hoisin in straight sets, but Daniel Soyfer had a bit more on his plate against Marquette’s Brett Meyers. Although he won in straight sets (7-5, 6-4), the match was a grind for the freshman. The lone match to go to a third set saw Colton face off against Marquette’s x Colton ultimately pulled out a win with, taking the third set 10-8, to cement the sweep for the Badgers.
UW burned through its double header without dropping a court, a confidence boost as the Badgers head into conference play this weekend—they will visit Iowa Sunday to begin Big Ten play.
