April 9, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's 64th-ranked men's tennis team made sure to give its lone senior Adam Schaechterle (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine) a proper sendoff, defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 7-0 at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
Usually Senior Day is the last home match for the 'Cats, but this year head coach Paul Torricelli decided a change was necessary as Adam's twin brother, Aaron, is a senior at Iowa.
The Wildcats wasted no time making sure this sendoff would be a success.
Marc Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga./University of Nebraska-Independent Study H.S.) and Juan Gomez (Mexico City, Mexico/South Florida) set the tone for what proved to be a successful doubles slate for Northwestern. The duo jumped on Iowa's Aaron Schaechterle and Christian Bierich at No. 3 doubles with the match tied at one, breaking the Hawkeye pair in two-consecutive receiving games to cruise to an 8-3 victory.
Just like Saturday, Northwestern would clinch the doubles point with a victory at No. 1 doubles. After an early break at 2-2 gave them the advantage, the Wildcats' Schaechterle and Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) held serve for the remainder of the match, beating Iowa's Brett Taylor and J.P. Ritchie 8-6.
Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) and Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium Lohbrügge) completed the doubles sweep for the Wildcats, defeating the Hawkeyes' Gregory Holm and Bart van Monsjou 8-6 at No. 2 doubles.
"We did a very good job of adjusting to the conditions outside," head coach Paul Torricelli said. "All three teams got off to fast starts and took control early. I'm pleased with how our doubles teams are coming together."
In between the doubles and singles matches Torricelli presented Schaechterle with a framed cover of this year's media guide. His teammates gave him their own type of gift, a Northwestern victory.
Alexey Evstratenkov (Moscow, Russia/Moscow International Gymnasia) completed his weekend sweep of Big Ten opponents and pushed Northwestern's lead to 2-0. Evstratenkov defeated Holm 6-4, 7-6 (5) at No. 6 singles and now has a three-match winning streak.
After dropping his first set, Gomez rallied to take the second set at No. 3 singles against Ritchie to force a deciding third set. Gomez fell into a hole, falling behind 4-0. Once again he rallied, taking six-straight games to win the set, winning the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and pushing the Wildcat lead to 3-0.
Tempke sealed the deal for the 'Cats and guaranteed a victorious Senior Day for Schaechterle. In a hard-fought match against the Hawkeyes' van Monsjou, Tempke outlasted his opponent and the conditions to win 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 at No. 1 singles.
Like Gomez, Lock had to rally from a one set deficit to claim victory. Lock defeated Bierich 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles to make it 5-0 in favor of the 'Cats.
Schaechterle made sure to have a big day on his own Senior Day. Schaechterle defeated Taylor at No. 5 singles 6-3, 7-6 (5) in a rematch from doubles to go 2-0 for the day and 3-1 for the weekend.
Dwyer then completed the 'Cats sweep, defeating Chaitu Malempati 7-5, 7-6 (3) at No. 4 singles.
"Iowa really grabbed the momentum right away in four or five of the singles matches," Torricelli said. "But everyone hung in there and refused to lose. It was much closer than the 7-0 score would indicate, but we won every tie-breaker."
The victory pushes the Wildcats' record to 10-8, 4-3 in the Big Ten while Iowa falls to 5-10, 0-6 in the Big Ten. Northwestern completes its home schedule this coming weekend when it takes on Purdue and Illinois Saturday and Sunday in Evanston. First serve for both matches is set for noon.
"This was a team effort," Torricelli said. "It was a great way to celebrate Senior Day for Adam."
Tennis Match Results University of Iowa vs. Northwestern University Apr 09, 2006 at Evanston, Illinois#64 Northwestern University 7, University of Iowa 0 Singles competition: 1. Tempke, Christian (NU) def. Bart von Monsjou (IOWA) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 2. Lock, Willy (NU) def. Christian Bierich (IOWA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 3. Gomez, Juan (NU) def. J.P. Ritchie (IOWA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 4. Dwyer, Marc (NU) def. Chaitu Malempati (IOWA) 7-5, 7-6 (3) 5. Schaechterle, Adam (NU) def. Brett Taylor (IOWA) 6-3, 7-6 (5) 6. Evstratenkov, Alexey (NU) def. Gregory Holm (IOWA) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Doubles competition: 1. Christian, Matt/Schaechterle, Adam (NU) def. Brett Taylor/J.P. Ritchie (IOWA) 8-6 2. Tempke, Christian/Lock, Willy (NU) def. Bart von Monsjou/Gregory Holm (IOWA) 8-6 3. Gomez, Juan/Dwyer, Marc (NU) def. Aaron Schaechterle/Christian Bierich (IOWA) 8-3
Match Notes: University of Iowa 5-10 (0-6 Big Ten) Northwestern University 10-8 (4-3 Big Ten); National ranking #64 T-3:20 A-150