March 28, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern raced out to a 3-0 lead against Michigan State and held on to win 5-2 Saturday at Combe Tennis Center, improving its season record to 13-5. The victory marked the first Big Ten conference win of the season for the Wildcats.
NU has a chance to make it two in a row when it welcomes Michigan to Evanston at 1 p.m. Sunday. The visiting Wolverines will be looking to snap an eight-match losing streak following their loss Saturday at Wisconsin.
Northwestern's doubles team of Tobias Reitz and Joshua Graves was the first tandem to get off the courts on Saturday, doing so with an 8-3 win at the No. 2 spot against John Stratton and Austin Brooks. With the score 3-2, NU won the next five games to take a commanding 7-2 lead before Reitz served out the match following a second deuce point.
At the No. 1 doubles spot, seniors Marc Dwyer and Alex Sanborn led 3-2 when Michigan State's John Allare and Jason Norville appeared ready to break the Wildcats' serve up 40-30. But NU won the next three points and managed to hold with a drop shot to the sideline by Sanborn at the net. The Spartans were up an Ad point in their next service game before Dywer and Sanborn rallied to force two more deuce points, eventually breaking MSU on a return into the net.
Leading 5-2, Dwyer impressed the crowd at Combe Tennis Center with a serve that proved too hot to handle for Michigan State, recording the ace to go ahead 6-2. Dwyer and Sanborn eventually held on to win 8-4 for their second consecutive win as a doubles pairing.
Alexander Thams and Andrew McCarthy were up a break at 5-3 over Alex Forger and Scott Rasmussen entering a Michigan State service game where the Spartans pulled within one at 5-4. But the early break proved to be the difference as McCarthy closed out the contest with three consecutive overhand smashes to win on match point, 8-6, giving NU a 1-0 lead entering singles.
Northwestern extended its lead to 3-0 thanks to victories by Graves at No. 4 and Thams at No. 3 singles. Graves took control of his fourth singles match early, breaking Austin Brooks in the second and fourth games to go ahead 4-0 before taking the first set 6-2. He faced little resistance in the second set, icing the match when Brooks was unable to return his serve on match point to put Northwestern ahead 2-0.
At No. 3, Thams coasted to a 6-1 victory in the first set against Rasmussen and broke serve to start the second, taking a 2-0 lead. He went on to win 6-2, bringing his season dual record to 12-5.
The clinching point was a little more difficult to come by for the 'Cats. Dwyer, ranked No. 89 in singles play, worked hard for a break in the fourth game of the No. 1 match against John Allare and aced the Spartan on game point in the fifth to hold serve and go up 4-1 in the set. In his next service game, he replicated his winner with an ace to close out the game to take a 5-2 lead. After finishing the set with the score 6-3 in his favor, Dwyer was in control but unable to pull away from Allare in the second. The match was tied at four when Dywer took a 40-15 lead on Allare's serve. Allare came back to send it to a deuce but couldn't hold off Dwyer as the Wildcat went ahead 5-4.
Allare answered in the ensuing game, breaking Dwyer with a cross-court forehand that just snuck inside the boundary. But in a tense final game, Allare came up short as he hit his return on match point just beyond the baseline to lock up the necessary fourth point for Northwestern.
With the match decided, the action continued at No. 2 singles where Reitz battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the first set to even things at three but surrendered one more break down the stretch as his opponent, Alex Forger, took the first set 6-4. Things remained even in the second where both players held leads before Reitz tied the score at six. Forger seized momentum in the breaker, however, winning 7-3.
Sanborn found himself locked in a competitive first set against Ronnie Hulewicz but managed to come out on top, 6-3. In the second, Sanborn trailed 2-1 before taking a 3-2 lead and holding his next serve to go back up 4-3. Hulewicz rallied to win the set 7-5, however, sending the match into a match tiebreaker. Hulewicz was ahead 7-3 when Sanborn scored three straight points to pull within 7-6. It wasn't enough, though, as Hulewicz gained a second point for the Spartans with a 10-7 tiebreaker win.
Freshman Eric Spector continued to play well at sixth singles, where he faced MSU's Jason Norville on Saturday. Even at two in the first set, both players struggled to break the tie as a lengthy fifth game went to numerous deuce points. But Spector eventually prevailed and capitalized on his momentum off that game, winning the first set handily, 6-2. But Norville answered in the second, winning 6-2. Forced to a third set, Spector wasn't fazed as he held on to win 6-2 and give NU a 5-2 victory.
No. 58 Northwestern 5, Michigan State 2
Singles
No. 1: No. 89 Marc Dwyer (NU) def. John Allare (MSU), 6-3, 7-5
No. 2: Alex Forger (MSU) def. No. 119 Tobias Reitz (NU), 6-4, 7-6 (3)
No. 3: Alexander Thams (NU) def. Scott Rasmussen (MSU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4: Joshua Graves (NU) def. Austin Brooks (MSU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5: Ronnie Hulewicz (MSU) def. Alex Sanborn (NU), 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7)
No. 6: Eric Spector (NU) def. Jason Norville (MSU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 3, 1*, 2, 5, 6
Doubles
No. 1: Dwyer/Sanborn (NU) def. Allare/Norville (MSU), 8-4
No. 2: Graves/Reitz (NU) def. Stratton/Brooks (MSU), 8-3
No. 3: McCarthy/Thams (NU) def. Forger/Rasmussen (MSU), 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1