March 3, 2007
Results
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Behind the groundstrokes of senior Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College), No. 45 Northwestern claimed its first Big Ten victory of the year and ended its five-dual losing streak with a 4-3 upset of No. 35 Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon at Combe Tennis Center.
With the dual even at 3 apiece, Lock stepped up for the 'Cats, winning his match at No. 1 singles 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4 over the Badgers' Nolan Polley. The senior responded with the entire crowd watching, breaking Polley at 1-1 in the third set with no other matches left on the courts. Lock then held serve for the remainder of the third set to give the Wildcats the dual.
"If I could pick one person to put out there with the dual on the line it would be Willy," Northwestern Head Coach Paul Torricelli said. "I have been watching Willy for four years now and I never get tired of watching him."
The victory improves the Wildcats' record to 6-8 overall, 1-2 in the Big Ten. With the loss, Wisconsin falls to 7-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten.
"If there is such a thing as a must-win dual, this was it for us," Torricelli said. "I am very proud of how the guys stayed positive during our losing streak and came through with an excellent effort against a very good team today."
The 'Cats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in search of their first Big Ten victory, taking a hard-fought doubles point, a point which would prove to be the difference, away from the Badgers.
Wisconsin started the doubles point strong, taking No. 2 doubles as the Wildcats' duo of Marc Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga./University of Nebraska - Independent Study HS) and Alex Sanborn (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) fell to the Badgers' Michael Dierberger and Michael Muskievicz 8-2. If the 'Cats were going to win the doubles point, they would need to win at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.
Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gynasium Lohbrügge) and Juan Gomez (Mexico City, Mexico) helped the 'Cats take a step in the right direction, winning No. 3 doubles. The Wildcat duo won by an 8-5 score over Wisconsin's Lachezar Kasarov and Felipe Bellido to set the stage for No. 1 doubles.
Wildcat seniors Lock and Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) came through in the clutch, upsetting the Badgers' 23rd-ranked pair of Polley and Moritz Baumann to claim the doubles point. After holding serve to take an 8-7 lead, the 'Cats fell behind 0-30 in the next game before mounting a rally to even the game at 30. A Lock lob gave the Wildcats match point, and a Christian return forced a Badger error to give the Wildcats the match and the doubles point.
In a role reversal, it was the 'Cats who struck first in singles. Sanborn gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead when he got revenge for his loss at No. 2 doubles, downing Muskievicz 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
Just like the 'Cats in doubles, the Badgers had an answer. Dwyer, who moved up to No. 3 singles after playing No. 4 for most of the season, fell to Baumann 6-3, 6-2 to narrow the Wildcats' lead to 2-1.
The score became 2-2 when Tempke could not maintain his late charge against Jeremy Sonkin at No. 2 singles. Down a set and a break at 5-4 in the second set, the Wildcat senior got the break he needed to stay in the set. The set eventually went to a tiebreaker, which Sonkin claimed to take the match 6-2, 7-6 (10-8).
Northwestern pushed back in front with a victory at No. 4 singles from Christian. After losing the first set, Christian came to life and cruised in the second and third sets to beat Kasarov 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and give the 'Cats a 3-2 lead.
Before Lock's victory at No. 1 singles, Gomez nearly provided Northwestern with the victorious fourth point at No. 5 singles. Trailing by a break at 6-5 in the third set, Gomez responded, breaking the Badgers' Dierberger to force a decisive third-set tiebreaker. The Wildcat junior could not maintain his momentum in the tiebreaker, losing the match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) as the Badgers evened the score at 3 apiece.
Northwestern now takes a 20-day break before returning to action at South Alabama on March 23 at 1 p.m. CT.