Badgers split weekend with Penn win and MTSU loss

Wisconsin men's tennis split its two matches over the weekend.

The Badgers improved to 6-6 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten. They remain without a road win this season.

On Friday, Wisconsin hosted Pennsylvania at Nielsen Tennis Center. The Quakers entered the match 4-7. Wisconsin had never beaten Penn in program history. The Badgers won 6-1.

Senior Josef Dodridge and junior Osgar O'Hoisin took the doubles point with a 6-1 win. The pair remains unbeaten this season. Sophomores Daniel Soyfer and Chase Colton added a 6-2 victory. The Badgers won all but one singles match. Colton, Soyfer, and Dodridge won in straight sets. Freshman Jesper Freimuth won 6-2, 6-3. O'Hoisin won 7-5, 4-6, 10-2.

Wisconsin traveled to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to face Middle Tennessee State. The Blue Raiders entered the match 10-2. They had not lost at home and had shut out five opponents. Wisconsin won the doubles point. O'Hoisin and Dodridge beat Chris Edge and Tom Moonen 6-4. Senior Chema Carranza and Freimuth beat Glan Issa and Jan Porteset 6-2. Soyfer won his singles match 6-4, 6-3. He improved to 10-0 in singles this season.

Middle Tennessee State won the next three singles matches to lead 3-2. Dodridge tied the match at 3-3 with a 7-6, 6-1 win. The result came down to No. 2 singles between Carranza and Moonen. Carranza lost the first set in a tiebreak. He won the second set 6-1. He led the third set 5-4. Moonen won the final set 7-5 to secure the Blue Raiders' victory.

Head coach Danny Westerman said the loss would help the team. "This one stings. We need to keep working. We put ourselves in these situations so we can eventually get over the hump," he told UWBadgers.com. Wisconsin returns to Nielsen Tennis Center next weekend for a Sunday doubleheader against Cornell and UW-Green Bay.