Oct. 26, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Northwestern's men's tennis team made a strong showing in the first day of the Midwest Regionals in East Lansing, Mich.
NU's Jackie Jenkins (College Park, Ga./Westlake) came in as the 14th seed and drew a bye for the first round. In the second round he defeated Dipesh Rao of Toledo, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4. Jenkins will take on the 19th seed, Luis Haddock of Notre Dame, Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
Junior Josh Axler (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) posted two victories, defeating Juan Barriga of NIU (7-6(5), 6-4) and Josh Rey of Butler (6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4. Axler will play the 8th seed, Milan Rakvica of Notre Dame, Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
Senior Jamie Sahara (Santa Maria, Calif./Santa Maria) also had a good opening day. He defeated WSU's Chad Derry 6-4, 7-5 in the first round, then had a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Illinois-Chicago's Nick Bodmer. Sahara will meet Michigan's Ben Cox Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
Freshman Tom Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) came out swinging on Friday. He defeated Tom Bagnato of Indiana (6-2, 6-2) and the 23rd seed, Chris Martin of Illinois, 6-3, 7-5. He will meet the 9th seed, Thomas Haug of Minnesota, on Saturday.
Senior Ryan Edlefsen (Eden Prairie, Minn./Bloomington Jefferson) did not fare as well as his teammates. He drew a first-round bye then fell to Vince Ng of Ohio State by a score of 6-4, 6-4.
In doubles action, Hanus and Jenkins came in as the 10th seed in the tournament and earned a first-round bye. They take on Miller-Wakefield from Purdue on Saturday. Edlefsen teamed up with senior Joost Hol (Newport Beach, Calif./Foothill) for an 8-4 victory over McNaughton-Raju of Notre Dame.