Wisconsin Badgers
No. 58 Illinois
Wisconsin comes up short against No. 58 Illinois
April 10, 2015 | Women's Tennis
April 10, 2015
MADISON, Wis. -- In the first of two matches against ranked Big Ten opponents this weekend, the Wisconsin women's tennis team fell short of knocking off No. 58 Illinois by a final score of 4-3.
The Badgers (10-8, 4-4 B1G) started the match on the right note, taking the first point of the match over Illinois (11-9, 3-5 B1G) thanks to doubles victories on the second and third courts.
Sydney Rider and Ekaterina Stepanova teamed up to take down Illinois' Madie Baillon and Jerricka Boone, 8-6, while Maria Avgerinos and Lauren Burich worked together to knock off the Illini's Grace Tapak and Alexis Casati, also by a score of 8-6.
Kelsey Grambeau was briefly taken out of action after taking a ball to the face, but while the trainer attended to her, the other two doubles teams stormed out front in their respective matches. Grambeau received an ovation when she returned to the court to finish her match.
"We competed from the first doubles point all the way through the match" head coach Tina Samara said. "Getting that point was important as always. It's not a match where I'm upset about lack of effort or intensity. I think we came up against a couple good players in a couple different spots."
Singles matches didn't go as well for the Cardinal and White.
Lauren Chypyha battled Illinois' Alexis Casati to a 6-3 victory in the first set, before crusing to a 6-1 second set victory.
Although that would be the only singles match the Badgers would win Friday evening, Samara was far from disheartened.
"I think they've really turned a corner this season, and I think they're seeing what happens when you do. It's more fun to compete, even today when we lost. I wish we could have won, but we're young, we won't lose anyone, and at the end of the day, when I put it in perspective, we're doing a pretty good job."
The Badgers return to the court this Sunday at 10 a.m. to take on No. 23 Northwestern at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
Note from the Big Ten Office:
"The final team score of the April 10 women's tennis match between Illinois and Wisconsin has been adjusted to a 4-3 win for Illinois (from the original 5-2 win for Illinois).Â
The action was taken by the Big Ten Conference protest committee after a lineup protest filed by Wisconsin regarding the lineup positions of the No. 4, 5 and 6 singles positions for Illinois. The protest committee voted to overturn the result of the No. 6 singles match.
As a result of the committee's decision, the No. 6 singles point is awarded to Wisconsin to result in a 4-3 match victory for Illinois.
While the team result was changed, all individual match results will be maintained."
No. 58 Illinos 4, Wisconsin 3
Madison, Wis.
Nielsen Tennis Stadium
Singles:
1. Lauren Chypyha (WIS) def. Alexis Casati (ILL) 6-3, 6-1
2. Melissa Kopinski (ILL) def. Maria Avgerinos (WIS) 6-2, 6-3
3. Louise Kwong (ILL) def. Ekaterina Stepanova (WIS) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
4. Jerricka Boone (ILL) def. Lauren Burich (WIS) 6-2, 6-2
5. Madie Baillon (ILL) def. Sydney Rider (WIS) 6-1, 6-7, 6-2
6. Grace Tapak (ILL) def. Kelsey Grambeau (WIS) 3-6, 7-6, 6-3
Doubles:
1. Louise Kwong/Melissa Kopinski (ILL) def. Lauren Chypyha/Kelsey Grambeau (WIS) 8-3
2. Sydney Rider/Ekaterina Stepanova (WIS) def. Madie Baillon/Jerricka Boone (ILL) 8-6
3. Maria Avgerinos/Lauren Burich (WIS) def. Grace Tapak/Alexis Casati (ILL) 8-6
Players Mentioned
