Five Things to Know: Badgers wrap regular season Saturday

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men’s tennis team is closing out its 2022-23 regular season this Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The Badgers (11-9, 4-4 B1G) host the Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-9, 4-4) at noon in their final match before Big Ten Tournament play. 

Here are five things you should know before Saturday’s match:

1. CELEBRATING THE SENIORS: Seniors Robin Parts and Sebastian Vile will be honored Saturday in a Senior Day ceremony before the match. The duo, who also happen to be doubles partners, are closing out remarkable careers worth celebrating. After transferring from Minnesota in 2021, Vile has gone on to record a 25-17 overall singles record as a Badger and a 25-12 overall doubles record in dual matches. He leads the team this season with 12 singles wins and was the runner-up singles champion at the Big Ten Individual Championships last fall. Parts is at the end of his fourth season as a Badger, earning a 26-19 overall singles dual match record and a 32-28 doubles record. These past two seasons have been his best yet, recording a winning record in dual matches over the course of the year. 

2. BIG TEN STANDINGS: Going into the final weekend of conference play, several matches will decide the seeds for next week’s Big Ten Tournament. No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 Michigan have kept their places as the top-two teams, while Northwestern (6-1) holds strong in third place. After a perfect weekend, Illinois (5-2) has jumped their way up two spots to No. 4 with Nebraska (4-4) and Wisconsin (4-4) tied for fifth. This Saturday’s match will determine who gets the fifth seed in the tournament. Michigan State (3-4), Indiana (1-6), Penn State (0-7), and Purdue (0-7) round out the rankings. 

3. KNOW THE OPPONENT: The Cornhuskers are currently the No. 49-ranked team in the country, holding a 12-9 overall record and 4-4 conference record. Their four Big Ten losses have been to the same teams as the Badgers: Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, and Northwestern. In total, the Cornhuskers have earned five ranked wins including a 4-2 win over No. 38-ranked Alabama, which the Badgers lost 4-3. 

4. FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live updates on the Badgers can be found on Twitter (@BadgerMTennis) and Instagram (@wisconsintennis), while live scoring/streaming will be linked from the men’s tennis schedule page on UWBadgers.com.

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