April 25, 2007
Northwestern Men's Tennis Notes (2007 Big Ten Championship)
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern closed the regular season at home Sunday with a 5-2 win over Michigan State, but the eighth-seeded 'Cats are set for a rematch with the ninth-seeded Spartans at 8 a.m. Thursday, in the first round of the Big Ten Championship. The winner faces top-seeded and third-ranked Ohio State.
"Michigan State will be an entirely different opponent on Thursday," head coach Paul Torricelli said. "We expect Nick Rinks to return to their lineup and they will be eager for revenge. The challenge for us will be to have a short memory with only four days between matches."
"I anticipate totally different match-ups and we have to be prepared," Torricelli said. "We have had good practices this week and our guys will be ready to go. (Christian) Tempke will be back at full-strength after being slowed by shin-splints."
"The Big Ten Championships is always important for me and it's great to get all the teams in one place again," Torricelli said. "Our conference has really gotten better and I see no reason for it to change next year."
A trio of seniors anchor the Northwestern lineup. Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College), who has split time at the top two singles spots, is 12-10 in dual matches and 6-4 in the Big Ten.
Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium LobrÜgge) has also played No. 1 and No. 2 while fellow senior Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) played No. 4 to close the season.
In doubles, Lock and Christian played most of the year at No. 1, but the No. 2 team of sophomore Marc Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga./Univ. of Nebraska-Independent Study) and freshman Alex Sanborn (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) played in the top spot for the last three matches of the season.
Tempke and junior Juan Gomez (Mexico City, Mexico) have 12 wins at No. 3 doubles.
In Sunday's meeting, NU swept doubles and took 4-of-6 singles matches from the Spartans.
For live scoring and tournament information, visit the Big Ten Championship Homepage
For Northwestern's probable starters and complete notes, click the .pdf link above.