Feb. 25, 2011
Complete Results
Site: Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Score: No. 67 Northwestern 4, Western Michigan 3
Records: NU (8-3, 0-0 Big Ten) Western Michigan (6-5, 0-0 MAC)
Next NU Event: Friday, March 6 at Oklahoma Norman, Okla. 5 p.m.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the second straight Friday night, Northwestern sophomore Spencer Wolf was left to play an entire third set on his home courts knowing the outcome of his singles match would decide his team's fate on the evening. On this occasion, Wolf outlasted Western Michigan's Simon Blomberg in a dramatic third set, 7-5, to lift No. 67 NU to a 4-3 victory over the Broncos in Evanston.
It may not have been the outcome that many in attendance would have predicted when Wolf quickly fell behind 3-0 in the decisive set. But the Wildcats sophomore regained his composure to level the score at three and later traded breaks with Blomberg as the score remained tied at five.
That's when Wolf picked up the key break of the match to go up 6-5, giving him the opportunity to utilize his big serve in the final game. He went up 40-15 on Blomberg and iced the match with a soft forehand volley winner at the net, lifting his season record to 6-5 in dual matches.
"Spencer did a tremendous job of staying poised even down 3-0 in the third, he was confident in his ability to come back and it was obvious he had been in that situation before," said head coach Arvid Swan. "Western Michigan is a quality team and it took a great effort by our guys to keep believing we could win."
Northwestern and Western Michigan both posted lopsided victories in doubles, with NU's No. 1 tandem of Joshua Graves and Wolf blitzing Michael and Thomas Calderone, 8-2, to move to 8-1 in dual matches this season.
But on the adjacent court, WMU was posting a similar 8-1 win as Northwestern's Chris Jackman and Raleigh Smith suffered their first dual defeat at No. 3 singles, falling 8-1.
That left the doubles point to be decided by the No. 2 contest where Andrew McCarthy and Tobias Reitz were in a back-and-forth match against Casey Cullen and Pablo Olivarez, who held a 5-4 lead midway through the contest. The Broncos pushed NU to a break point before the 'Cats fought back to hold and tie it, but that sequence replicated itself in the next game as WMU regained a one-game edge at 6-5.
Cullen and Olivarez then managed a break to go up 7-5 serving for the match, and the Broncos closed things out on their second match point to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
It marked only the second time this season that Northwestern did not bring in the doubles point.
Northwestern bounced back in singles by winning four first sets, including at No. 4 where Reitz worked hard to outlast Casey Cullen in the first set, 7-5. But the NU junior grew stronger down the stretch, quickly putting away the second set by a 6-1 score to win his sixth dual singles match of the season.
The 'Cats took a 2-1 lead when freshman Raleigh Smith came up big with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Western Michigan senior Brad Noel at the No. 6 spot.
NU received a boost on the No. 3 line where McCarthy continued his hot play of late against Pablo Olivarez. McCarthy won the first set 6-4 and was up a break at 3-2 in the second before Olivarez answered with a hard-fought break to pull level at three. Again tied at four, McCarthy came up with the break he was looking for to go up 5-4 and eventually won the match serving out his third match point.
The senior has now won five straight singles contests and is 8-2 on the year.
But Western Michigan was not about to go quietly, winning the next two matches off the courts to tie the team score at three-all. Michael Calderone snuck by Graves by a 7-5, 7-5 score at No. 1, as Graves fell to 5-5 in dual match play this season.
At No. 5, Chris Jackman fell behind two breaks at 5-2 in the first before staging an impressive rally to tie things at five against Ross VanderPloeg. But he couldn't get over the top, falling 7-5 in the set, and eventually surrendered what was a 4-3 lead with a break advantage in the second as VanderPloeg came from behind to win 6-4 and leave the dual to be decided by Wolf at No. 2.
Next up for Northwestern is a challenging road trip that takes it to Oklahoma and regional foe Notre Dame on March 4 and March 6, respectively.
No. 67 Northwestern 4, Western Michigan 3
Singles:
1: Michael Calderone (WMU) def. Joshua Graves (NU), 7-5, 7-5
2: Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Simon Blomberg (WMU), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
3: Andrew McCarthy (NU) def. Pablo Olivarez (WMU), 6-4, 6-4
4: Tobias Reitz (NU) def. Casey Cullen (WMU), 7-5, 6-1
5: Ross VanderPloeg (WMU) def. Chris Jackman (NU), 7-5, 6-4
6: Raleigh Smith (NU) def. Brad Noel (WMU), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles:
1: Graves/Wolf (NU) def. M. Calderone/T. Calderone (WMU), 8-2
2: Cullen/Olivarez (WMU) def. McCarthy/Reitz (NU), 8-5
3: Noel/VanderPloeg (WMU) def. Jackman/Smith (NU), 8-1
Order of Finish:
Singles (4, 6, 3, 1, 5, 2*)
Doubles (3, 1, 2*)
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!