Five things to know: Wisconsin returns home

Friday, April 12

Madison, WI

4:30 P.M.

Wisconsin Badgers

Illinois

Photo by: David Stluka

Five things to know: Wisconsin returns home

April 10, 2019 | Women's Tennis

Badgers host Illinois, Northwestern this weekend

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 47 Wisconsin women's tennis team will return to its home courts this weekend following a two-match weekend in which it split matches, suffering a loss to No. 21 Ohio State but bouncing back and defeating Penn State. This weekend Wisconsin will welcome in Illinois and No. 25 Northwestern to Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The match versus Illinois begins on Friday at 4:30, Northwestern on Sunday at 11 a.m.

1. WEEKLY RECAP: Competing on the road versus Ohio State, Wisconsin suffered a 6-1 defeat against the top-ranked Buckeyes. Freshman Ava Markham was the only Badger to win a singles match. Senior Sara Castellano and sophomore Ava Markham both lost to nationally ranked opponents, whereas sophomore Lexi Keberle's match against another top-ranked opponent went unfinished.

Bouncing back on Sunday, UW defeated Penn State 4-2 on the road. Wisconsin won the doubles point before Castellano, Makarova and sophomore MaryAnn Rompf won their respective singles matches.

2. SCOUTING ILLINOIS: No. 34 Illinois currently sits with a 9-10 overall record, including 4-3 in conference play. The Fighting Illini have competed against six top-ranked opponents, suffering a loss in all six matches. Before losing to Michigan this past weekend, Illinois was riding a three-match winning streak in Big Ten competition. Illinois has one ranked singles player: No. 49 Asuka Kawai.

3. SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN: The No. 29 Wildcats currently sit at 11-7 overall, including 5-2 in conference play. Ranked No. 25, Northwestern has a doubles duo ranked No. 47 and one singles player, Clarissa Hand, ranked No. 39. The Wildcats are coming off of back-to-back losses versus Michigan and Michigan State. Before those two losses the team had won five straight matches.

4. HISTORY LESSON: The Badgers hold a 23-20 all-time series lead over the Fighting Illini, but are down 47-15 in the all-time series against Northwestern. Wisconsin met both of these programs last season and, competing on the road, suffered a 7-0 loss versus No. 12 Northwestern and a 4-0 loss versus No. 14 Illinois.

5. GOOD TO KNOW: Wisconsin's Sara Castellano and Lexi Keberle continue to be recognized as two top players in the country, ranked No. 63 and No. 107 respectively. Castellano has competed in the No. 1 singles slot all season with Keberle right behind her at No. 2.