April 16, 2010
Complete Results
Site: Minneapolis, Minn. (Baseline Tennis Center)
Score: Minnesota 5, Northwestern 2
Records: NU (9-11, 1-6 Big Ten), Minnesota (11-8, 4-3 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, April 18 -- at Iowa (Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex), Noon
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Playing its penultimate road match of the season, No. 53 Northwestern suffered a 5-2 setback against 37th-ranked Minnesota Friday at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis. Both squads claimed two three-set singles wins in a dual that was tight from the early going.
"Each player in our lineup fought his hardest today," said Northwestern head coach Arvid Swan. "But Minnesota is a very good team and we came up just a bit short in some key areas. We are looking forward to our next challenge Sunday."
NU got off to a good start in the match with an 8-5 victory at the No. 1 doubles position by freshman Spencer Wolf and sophomore Joshua Graves as they knocked off Minnesota's Phillip Arndt and Sebastian Gallego. The win offset an 8-5 Minnesota win at No. 2 by Rok Bonin and Tobias Wernet against the Wildcats' Tobias Reitz and Alex Sanborn.
That brought the doubles point down to No. 3 doubles where Andrew McCarthy and Sidarth Balaji went the distance against UM's Dino Bilankov and Julian Dehn, losing 9-7 to hand the team point to the Gophers.
Northwestern secured two team points thanks to singles victories at No. 3 and 5 by Wolf and Sanborn, respectively. Wolf overcame Minnesota's Rok Bonin by surging past Bonin 6-1 in the decisive third set to lock up the 11th dual win of his rookie campaign and improve to 4-2 at the No. 3 singles spot.
Sanborn also took his match to three sets, splitting the opening sets 6-3 and 1-6 against the Gophers' Phillip Arndt. Sanborn got back on form in the third set to defeat Arndt 6-3 and pull even at 10-10 in dual singles matches in his senior campaign.
The No. 1 singles matchup was predictably close between 82nd-ranked Graves and No. 80 Gallego of Minnesota. Graves was the aggressor early, finding his rhythm to win the first set 6-2 before falling 6-3, 6-3 in the ensuing frames as Gallego clinched the dual for the home side. Minnesota's other three-set win came courtesy of Brendan Ruddock at No. 6 as the Gopher managed to stave off Reitz in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win.
Northwestern returns to the courts for its final road match of the regular season at noon Sunday when it faces Iowa in Iowa City.
No. 37 Minnesota 5, No. 53 Northwestern 2
Singles
1. #80 Sebastian Gallego (MINN) def. #82 Joshua Graves (NU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
2. #102 Tobias Wernet (MINN) def. Sidarth Balaji (NU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
3. Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Rok Bonin (MINN) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
4. Dino Bilankov (MINN) def. Andrew McCarthy (NU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Alex Sanborn (NU) def. Phillip Arndt (MINN) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
6. Brendan Ruddock (MINN) def. Tobias Reitz (NU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles
1. Joshua Graves/Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Phillip Arndt/Sebastian Gallego 8-5
2. Rok Bonin/Tobias Wernet (MINN) def. Tobias Reitz/Alex Sanborn (NU) 8-5
3. Dino Bilankov/Julian Dehn (MINN) def. Andrew McCarthy/Sidarth Balaji (NU) 9-7
Order of Finish
Singles: (2, 4, 5, 1*, 6, 3)
Doubles: (2, 1, 3*)
*******
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