March 4, 2008
Results
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern sophomore captain Alex Sanborn captured the only point of the day in his No. 2 singles match in a 6-1 loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday at the Combe Center.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 6-8 in dual play this season.
Vanderbilt went up 1-0 when it swept the doubles point from the Wildcats. At No. 3, Alexander Thams and David Seyferth put forth a valiant effort, but they were unable to defeat the Commodores' Vijay Paul and Adam Baker who prevailed 8-6.
After jumping out to a quick lead, Alex Sanborn and Marc Dwyer fell 8-4 at No. 1 to Vanderbilt's Ryan Preston and Evan Dufaux. At No. 2 Peter Rispoli and Andrew McCarthy were downed 8-2 by Nick Cromydas and Bryant Salcedo.
Vanderbilt took a 2-0 lead when Marc Dwyer was defeated at No. 1 in singles by the Commodores' 65th-ranked Ryan Preston 6-4, 6-1. Juan Gomez also fell in two sets at No. 6 to Adam Baker 6-2, 6-4 to extend Vanderbilt's lead to 3-0.
It took Alex Zotov a fight to take down `Cats' Andrew McCarthy at No. 5. McCarthy forced the first set into a 5-5 tie before ultimately falling short 7-5. He stayed close in the second set, but was unable to prevail and lost 6-4, giving Vanderbilt a 4-0 lead and a victory in the dual match.
At No. 3, Alexander Thams battled hard with Bryant Salcedo through three sets, but was defeated 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 and extended Vanderbilt's match lead to 5-0.
Sanborn gave the Wildcats something to cheer about when his hard work paid off at No. 2. After defeating 82nd-ranked Vijay Paul in a first set tiebreaker 7-6 (7-4) and losing the second 6-1, Sanborn came out with a victory in a third set match tiebreaker 1-0 (10-4), earning the Wildcats' first point and cutting the score to 5-1 for the day.
The match came to an end when Peter Rispoli barely lost in his three-set battle with Vanderbilt's Evan Dufaux at No. 4. The game was decided 6-2, 5-7, 4-6 and the Commodores ended the night with a 6-1 victory.
Northwestern welcomes Wisconsin for a Big Ten match at 2 p.m. this Saturday, March 8 at the Combe Tennis Center.
Vanderbilt 6, Northwestern 1
Doubles
1. Ryan Preston/Evan Dufaux (VAN) def. Alex Sanborn/Marc Dwyer (NU) 8-4
2. Nick Cromydas/Bryant Salcedo (VAN) def. Peter Rispoli/Andrew McCarthy (NU) 8-2
3. Vijay Paul/Adam Baker (VAN) def. Alexander Thams/David Seyferth (NU) 8-6
Singles
1. #65 Ryan Preston (VAN) def. Marc Dwyer (NU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Alex Sanborn (NU) def. #82 Vijay Paul (VAN) 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 1-0 (10-4)
3. Bryant Salcedo (VAN) def. Alexander Thams (NU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-0
4. Evan Dufaux (VAN) def. Peter Rispoli (NU) 2-6, 7-5, 6-4
5. Alex Zotov (VAN) def. Andrew McCarthy (NU) 7-5, 6-4
6. Adam Baker (VAN) def. Juan Gomez (NU) 6-2, 6-4