Wisconsin Men's Tennis Splits Weekend Results Against Penn and Middle Tennessee State

The Wisconsin men's tennis team experienced a mixed weekend on the court, splitting its two scheduled matches with a convincing home victory followed by a narrow loss on the road. The Badgers defeated Pennsylvania to close out the first leg of the weekend, only to fall short against a formidable Middle Tennessee State squad in the subsequent contest. These results leave the team with a balanced 6-6 overall record and a 0-1 mark in Big Ten Conference play. A persistent issue for the program remains their inability to secure a win while playing away from home this season.

The weekend began on Friday afternoon at the Nielsen Tennis Center, where Wisconsin hosted the University of Pennsylvania. The Quakers entered the matchup with a 4-7 record, and the historical context favored Wisconsin in a rare way. The Badgers had never defeated Penn in the program's history prior to this weekend. Last year, the series ended in a 4-3 loss for Wisconsin. This time, the home team dominated, taking the match 6-1.

Wisconsin established its lead in the doubles round. The No. 1 pairing of senior Josef Dodridge and junior Osgar O'Hoisin won their match 6-1, extending their unbeaten streak as a duo this season. Sophomores Daniel Soyfer and Chase Colton followed with a 6-2 victory to secure the doubles point for the Badgers.

In the singles competition, Wisconsin maintained its momentum, winning all but one of the remaining matches. Colton, Soyfer, and Dodridge each claimed straight-set victories. Freshman Jesper Freimuth also won in straight sets, defeating his opponent 6-2 and 6-3. O'Hoisin required three sets to finish his match, ultimately winning 7-5, 4-6, and 10-2 to seal the 6-1 result against the Quakers.

The dynamic shifted when the team traveled to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to face Middle Tennessee State. The Blue Raiders arrived with a 10-2 record and a strong home presence, having not lost at their facility this season. They had previously shut out five different opponents on their home court, setting a high bar for any visiting team.

Wisconsin started the second match with confidence. In doubles, O'Hoisin and Dodridge defeated Chris Edge and Tom Moonen 6-4. Senior Chema Carranza and Freimuth then beat Glan Issa and Jan Porteset 6-2 to give the Badgers the doubles point. In the initial singles matches, Soyfer posted a 6-4, 6-3 win, improving his personal singles record to 10-0 for the season.

Middle Tennessee State responded by winning the next three singles matches to take a 3-2 lead. Dodridge then tied the series at 3-3 with a 7-6, 6-1 victory. This set the stage for the decisive match at No. 2 singles, pitting senior Carranza against Moonen.

The final match was tightly contested. Carranza lost the first set in a 7-6 tiebreak but recovered to win the second set 6-1. In the deciding third set, Carranza held a 5-4 lead before Moonen mounted a comeback. Moonen won the set 7-5 to clinch the match for the Blue Raiders and end Wisconsin's road bid.

Head coach Danny Westerman acknowledged the difficulty of the loss but viewed it as a valuable learning experience for the team's development. He noted that the team puts itself in these challenging situations to build resilience. Westerman stated, "This one stings. We need to keep working. We put ourselves in these situations so we can eventually get over the hump," according to UWBadgers.com.

The Badgers will return to the Nielsen Tennis Center next weekend. They are scheduled for a Sunday doubleheader featuring matches against Cornell and UW-Green Bay, offering another opportunity to build on their home performance.