Badgers down Michigan, 5-2

After a season of ups and downs, the Michigan women's tennis team headed into the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in Champaign this past weekend on an apparent upswing.

Although the Wolverines had lost to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament finals, it was quite an accomplishment for the Wolverines to even get that far. To get there, they had to go through top-seed and host Wisconsin, a team which beat Michigan 7-0 during the regular season.

The up-and-down cycle endured by Michigan was to come full circle again, however, and the Wolverines, in their third match against the Badgers this season, fell, 5-2.

"We knew it would be a challenging match," Michigan senior Sora Moon said. "But we were psyched to play them."

The loss ended the Wolverines' 1998 campaign and their hopes at a second straight NCAA championship appearance.

"Wisconsin was really up for the match," Michigan sophomore Brooke Hart said. "They wanted revenge."

The Badgers jumped out to an early lead, winning the second through fifth singles matches in straight sets. The Wolverines were flat from the outset, and did not win a game in the first set of any of these matches.

"On my court, I started off a little slow," Moon said. "But even if I hit a really good shot, she would hit a better one."

The match could have ended before doubles play, but Michigan's Brooke Hart and Jen Boylan pulled off victories at No. 1 and No. 6 singles, respectively.

Winning 4-2, Wisconsin needed only one point to finish off the Wolverines. Dena Baritot and partner April Gabler defeated Michigan's Erryn Weggenman and Tumeka Harris at No. 3 doubles to clinch the match for the Badgers.

The loss took the Wolverines to an 11-13 overall record, with 10 losses coming to opponents ranked in the top 50 nationally. Michigan compiled an 8-6 mark against Big Ten opponents.

05-18-98