Eric Spector posted one of five wins for Northwestern on the opening day of the Wildcat Invitational.Eric Spector posted one of five wins for Northwestern on the opening day of the Wildcat Invitational.

Northwestern Wins All Five Matches At Wildcat Invitational

Oct. 21, 2011

UPDATED WILDCAT INVITATIONAL DRAWS (PDF)

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Ten teams from around the Midwest were in action at the Combe Indoor Tennis Center on Friday and the Wildcat Invitational hosts enjoyed five wins on the opening day of competition.

A trio of 'Cats were entered in the event by head coach Arvid Swan. Senior Eric Spector (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and freshmen Nikil Jayashankar (Saratoga, Calif./Saratoga) and Alberto Zanotti (Valencia, Venezuela/C.I. Carabobo) were all in action in singles play. Spector is in Flight A where he won his opening match over Toledo's Tomas Stillman, 1-6, 6-3, 10-5.

Jayahankar and Zanotti were both entered in flight B of the singles competition. Jayashankar bested Muddappa Appanervanda from Illinois State in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Zanotti also won in two sets Friday, 6-1, 6-4, over Western Michigan's Zeyad Montasser.

Spector resumes play at 11 a.m. Saturday, while Jayashankar and Zanotti are due on in the next wave of matches at 12:30 p.m.

Those two Wildcats, Jayashankar and Zanotti, also paired in flight A for doubles to win a pair of matches. First, the newcomers outplayed Marquette's Drake Kakar and David Packowitz, 8-4. In the quarterfinal round, NU's pair knocked off Northern Illinois' entry of Roman Turtygin and Maksym Bartiuk, 8-5. They will take on Wisconsin's Robles and Teppert Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

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