Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin women’s tennis team is gearing up for an Illinois showdown, as they face Northwestern in Evanston on Friday, April 5 at 4:30 p.m. and Illinois on Sunday, April 7 at 11 a.m. inside the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
1. SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: In her 25th season as head coach, Claire Pollard leads Northwestern, posting a 13-5 record this season. The Wildcats currently sit at No. 37 in the ITA rankings.
Senior Maria Shusharina leads the team with an 11-5 individual record and and 9-2 doubles record.
2. SCOUTING THE FIGHTING ILLINI: Now halfway through Big Ten play, Illinois maintains an overall 12-6 record and a 4-1 conference record. Led by eighth-season head coach Evan Clark, the Fighting Illini claim a 1-2 record on the road.
3. BADGERS IN THE RANKINGS: After this past weekend, the Badgers are seated at No. 30 in the ITA rankings. Senior Maria Sholokhova checks in at No. 78 in the singles rankings.
4. THE LAST SERVE: Last weekend, Wisconsin took down Big Ten competitors, Iowa and Nebraska, in two 4-0 matches.
Taylor Cataldi and Rosie Garcia Gross secured a win for UW in No. 3 doubles against the Hawkeyes with a 6-2 score. Despite a loss in No. 2 doubles, Maria Sholokhova and Alina Mukhortova clinched the deciding point with a 6-4 win. Cataldi notched her fourth-straight No. 3 singles victory with scores of 6-3, 6-1, and Sholokhova played a key role, winning her match to clinch the overall victory.
Sunday’s match against the Cornhuskers saw the team tie its record with an 11-game win streak, a feat last achieved in 1996. Maria Sholokhova and Xinyu Cai clinched the doubles point in a close match, winning 7-5. In singles, Ariel Johnson quickly won her match with scores of 6-2, 6-3. Garcia Gross secured the overall victory, winning her match with a 6-4 score after a comeback in the second set.
5. FOLLOW ALONG: Live stats and live stream can be found HERE. For content leading up to the matches, follow the Wisconsin women’s tennis team on X (@BadgerWTennis) and Instagram (@badgerwtennis)
6. UP NEXT: The Badgers have a big weekend of at-home tennis competition, facing the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines on Friday, April 12 at 4 p.m. and the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday, April 14 at 12 p.m. Sunday’s match against Michigan State will alwso be Senior Day.
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