Badgers sweep Penn, then drop late rally at Middle Tennessee

Wisconsin men's tennis finished the weekend with a split decision, securing a dominant home victory before falling short in a tight match in Tennessee. The Badgers defeated Pennsylvania 6-1 on Friday before losing to Middle Tennessee State 6-5 in Murfreesboro.

The team entered the season with a 6-6 record and has yet to win an away match. In the Big Ten, they stand at 0-1. The weekend slate tested the squad's ability to maintain focus across two different venues and opponents.

At the Nielsen Tennis Center, Wisconsin finally broke a program history streak against Pennsylvania. The Quakers, who were 4-7, had never lost to the Badgers until Friday. Wisconsin took the doubles point early when seniors Josef Dodridge and Osgar O'Hoisin won 6-1. The pair remains unbeaten this season. Sophomores Daniel Soyfer and Chase Colton followed with a 6-2 win.

In singles, the Badgers won four of five matches. Colton, Soyfer, and Dodridge all took their matches in straight sets. Freshman Jesper Freimuth won 6-2, 6-3. O'Hoisin required three sets, finishing with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-2 victory.

On Saturday, the team traveled to face Middle Tennessee State, who had not lost at home all season. The Blue Raiders, now 10-2, had previously shut out five opponents. Wisconsin opened strong, winning the doubles point as O'Hoisin and Dodridge beat Chris Edge and Tom Moonen 6-4. Chema Carranza and Freimuth added a 6-2 win over Glan Issa and Jan Porteset. Soyfer won his singles match 6-4, 6-3, improving to 10-0 for the year.

Middle Tennessee State won the next three singles matches to take a 3-2 lead. Dodridge tied the score at 3-3 with a 7-6, 6-1 win. The final point fell to Carranza, who faced Tom Moonen at No. 2 singles. Carranza lost the first set 7-6, won the second 6-1, and led 5-4 in the third. Moonen closed out the match 7-5 in the final set.

Head coach Danny Westerman acknowledged the frustration of the loss. He told UWBadgers.com that the team needs to keep working to overcome these situations. The Badgers return to Nielsen Tennis Center next weekend for matches against Cornell and UW-Green Bay.