April 4, 2004
Northwestern-Illinois results
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EVANSTON, Ill.--It was not a day for an upset by Northwestern's 36th-ranked men's tennis team.
Instead, in front of a greater-than-capacity crowd of 360, the Wildcats were defeated 7-0 by top-ranked and defending national champion Illinois at Combe Tennis Center.
"We were competitive at some spots in the lineup with Illinois," said head coach Paul Torricelli. "It shows some bright spots for our team, but you can never get excited about a 7-0 loss. "
The Fighting Illini (18-0, 4-0 Big Ten), who extended their nation-leading win streak to 50, stormed out of the gates by sweeping doubles. Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) and Adam Schaechterle (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine) seemed poised to prevent the shutout, tying Ryler DeHeart and GD Jones at 4-4 before eventually falling 8-4 at No. 3.
In singles, the 'Cats (12-5, 3-2) found themselves in a 3-0 deficit after losing at Nos. 3 and 4. The clinching match for Illinois came at No. 5, where Pramod Dabir topped Christian 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Schaechterle came close to rallying to a third set against Jones at No. 6, but he unfortunately was beaten in a second-set tiebreaker and lost 6-0, 7-6 (8-6). Teammate Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany, Gymnasium Lohbrugge) almost put NU on the board until he was nipped 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 by 24th-ranked Phil Stolt at No. 2.
Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) turned out to have the final match of the day, and it had everyone on the edge of their chairs. After dropping the first set 6-3 to No. 3 Brian Wilson, Hanus churned out a 7-6 (2) win in the following set to initiate a 10-point tiebreaker in the third set. Although the junior was as close as 5-5, Wilson pulled away for a 1-0 (10-6) victory.
"Tommy raised it up a level today (in almost upsetting Wilson)," said Torricelli. "I was really proud of how hard he fought today."
The Wildcats hit the road for their next match, taking on Iowa at 2 p.m. April 9 in Iowa City, Iowa.