April 26, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Northwestern's men's tennis team failed to advance to the semifinal round of the Big Ten Championship as they were defeated Friday by Purdue, 4-2.
The fourth-seeded Wildcats (13-9, 6-5 Big Ten) were shown an early exit by a Boilermaker team they had defeated earlier in the season. This is only the second time since 1989 NU has not played in the semifinal round of the conference tournament.
Purdue, the fifth seed, took the early lead by winning the doubles point. In a lineup switch, Russell Bennett (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) was paired with Jackie Jenkins (College Park, Ga./Westlake) at the No. 1 position while Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Josh Axler (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) played at the No. 2 spot. Both lost the matches and the third was abandoned once the Boilermakers took the point.
The 'Cats tried for a comeback in the singles round but fell short. Jamie Sahara (Santa Maria, Calif./St. Joseph) defeated Carl McCafferty at the No. 3 position, 7-6(1), 6-0, and Axler made quick work of Laith Al-Agba at the No. 5 spot, 6-1, 6-1.
Hanus, who was named the 2002 Big Ten Freshman of the Year at Thursday night's championship banquet, lost at the No. 1 position to 107th-ranked Scott Mayer, 6-1, 6-4. Joost Hol (Newport Beach, Calif./Foothill) lost at the No. 4 spot to Andrew Wakefield, 6-2, 6-2, and Purdue clinched the match victory with Troy Havens' 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Chuck Perrin (Atlanta, Ga./The Walker School) at the No. 6 position.
NU will now await the decision of the NCAA Tournament selection committee and will know May 3 if they will be part of the tournament.
No. 5 Purdue 4, No. 4 Northwestern 2
Doubles
1. Scott Mayer/Dan Swan, PU, def. Jackie Jenkins/Russell Bennett, 8-4
2. Laith Al-Agba/Carl McCafferty, PU, def. Tommy Hanus/Josh Axler, 8-3
3. Ryan Edlefsen/Joost Hol, NU, vs. Derek Miller, Seth McKinley, abandoned
Singles
1. No. 107 Scott Mayer, PU, def. Tommy Hanus, 6-1, 6-4
2. Ryan Edlefsen, NU, vs. Derek Miller, abandoned
3. Jamie Sahara, NU, def. Carl McCafferty, 7-6(1), 6-0
4. Andrew Wakefield, PU, def. Joost Hol, 6-2, 6-2
5. Josh Axler, NU, def. Laith Al-Agba, 6-1, 6-1
6. Troy Havens, PU, def. Chuck Perrin, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5