University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Wisconsin
Gophers Take Tough 4-3 Loss
2/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The Border Battle between the Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers proved to be an exciting one coming down to the last match of the evening with Wisconsin pulling out a 4-3 win.
Ruben Weber and Marino Alpeza were strong for the Gophers winning doubles together and both grabbing a singles victory.
"We just need to keep learning and keep trying to get better," head coach Geoff Young said.
The Badgers won the first match of the evening picking up a 6-1 victory at the No. 2 doubles spot. Matic Spec and Jeremy Lynn quickly answered with a 6-2 win at the No. 3 spot.
Weber and Alpeza held of Lamar Remy and Josef Dodridge at the No. 1 spot. The duo found themselves locked in a long volley with the score 5-4 before forcing a mistake by the Badgers to take the victory and the doubles point for Minnesota.
Almost every singles match looked like it could go either way early on. The Badgers tied things up with a No. 3 spot victory but Weber won (6-3, 6-3) at the No. 2 spot giving the Maroon and Gold the lead back.
The No. 6 spot was the final match to end its first set as Lynn and Jakhongir Jalolov traded point after point. Jalolov finally separated the two winning the tiebreak 11-9 and took that momentum into the second set. He went on to win 6-2 tying the match back up.
Alpeza again gave the lead back to the Gophers in a comeback win. He lost the first set 7-6 (6) but eased into the second set winning 6-1 over Darius Mackenzie. Alpeza stayed strong and took the third set 6-2 to move to 7-6 on the season.
Josip Krstanovic took his first set in the No. 4 spot 6-4 over Osgar O'Hoisin but dropped the second 6-3. Krstanovic jumped out to an early led but fell 7-5 tying the match up yet again.
Spec had an up and down match against Dodridge in the No. 1 spot. He got off to a 5-1 lead in the first set but fell 7-5. He again jumped out to a 5-1 in the second set and survived a scare winning 7-6 (5) to send it a third. Dodridge sealed the win for the Badgers winning 6-1 in the third set.
The 2-4 Gophers will look to bounce back with two matches at the Baseline Tennis Center next weekend. They take on Green Bay at 6 p.m. Friday evening and host Drake at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
#74 Wisconsin 4, #23 Minnesota 3
Singles competition
1. Josef Dodridge (WIS) def. Matic Spec (MINN) 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1
2. #95 Ruben Weber (MINN) def. Alexander Kokorev (WIS) 6-3, 6-3
3. Lamar Remy (WIS) def. Justyn Levin (MINN) 6-3, 6-3
4. Osgar O'Hoisin (WIS) def. Josip Krstanovic (MINN) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
5. Marino Alpeza (MINN) def. Darius Mackenzie (WIS) 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-2
6. Jakhongir Jalolov (WIS) def. Jeremy Lynn (MINN) 7-6 (11-9), 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Ruben Weber/Marino Alpeza (MINN) def. Josef Dodridge/Lamar Remy (WIS) 6-4
2. Jose Carranza/Jakhongir Jalolov (WIS) def. Justyn Levin/Josip Krstanovic (MINN) 6-1
3. Jeremy Lynn/Matic Spec (MINN) def. Alexander Kokorev/Darius Mackenzie (WIS) 6-2
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3,1) Singles (3,2,6,54,1)
Players Mentioned
