April 6, 2012
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern tied its longest winning streak of the season on Friday afternoon with a 6-1 victory over the visiting Michigan State Spartans on a cool, but sunny day at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill. It's the fifth straight win for the Wildcats with each coming in Big Ten play.
For the second time in as many matches, Northwestern jumped ahead by earning a point in doubles. The veteran pair of Tobias Reitz and Sidarth Balaji collected the first win of the day for the home team. With the set tied at five games apiece, the Wildcats rose to the occasion and claimed victories in the final three games to close out the Spartan duo of Denis Bogatov and Doug Zade, 8-5.
Simultaneously the other two Northwestern teams scored big points in an apparent seizure of momentum to go up 5-4, while Alex Pasareanu and Raleigh Smith sliced their defict to one, 5-4. Michigan State continued to battle in both bouts.
In the match at No. 2, Pasareanu and Smith faced a three-point deficit at 7-4, but they fought back to within one at 7-6. Then, the 'Cats broke the serve of their opponents to tie the match at seven games each. Within moments, Wolf and Graves took a one-point lead to go up 7-6 on 57th-ranked Aaron Pfister and Drew Lied.
On court No. 1, Wolf and Graves finally put their pesky opponents away, winning 8-6 to secure the coveted doubles point for the 'Cats. Pasareanu and Smith capped off the furious comeback to put away Austin Brooks and Harry Jadun, 9-7.
Northwestern got off to a fine start in singles play. Chris Jackman, playing No. 6, quickly dispensed of Gijs Linders in their first set, 6-0. Wolf also carried the momentum over from his big doubles win and ran through Bogatov, 6-3, in the first frame at No. 2 singles.
Graves dropped the first set against Pfister, but Balaji and Pasareanu also prospered in their openers.
Wolf was the first Wildcat to post a singles victory. He wiped out Bogatov, 6-1, in the second set to cruise to the straight-set triumph. It was the third straight singles win for Wolf, who has 13 wins in singles play this season. The junior is 5-1 in Big Ten matches this year.
Jackman's second set was opposite the first as he and Linders split the first 12 games to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. The Wildcat won the decider, 7-5, to give Northwestern a comfortable 3-0 edge in the match. The junior extends his team-best winning streak to five matches, with all of those triumphs coming in Big Ten play.
Pasareanu continued his hot streak with another victory at the No. 5 position. The freshman knocked off a senior in Austin Brooks to secure the fourth and decisive point of the match for Northwestern.
After surrendering the second set, 6-2, Balaji recovered to win the superbreaker against Lied, 10-6, to capture the fifth point for the 'Cats and his sixth win of the dual season.
Smith fell in a grueling match against Ronnie Hulewicz, 7-6 (2), 6-4. The win would prove to be the only one of the day for Michigan State.
Graves won a second-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (6) to force the second superbreak set of the afternoon. Graves continued to make his shots and won the tight tiebreak, 11-9.
The 'Cats conclude their four-match homestand on Sunday afternoon when they battle the 28th-ranked Michigan Wolverines at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center. The first serve between the purple and white and maize and blue is scheduled for noon.
Doubles:
1. Spencer Wolf/Josh Graves (NU) vs. No. 57 Aaron Pfister/Drew Lied (MSU) - 8-6
2. Alex Pasareanu/Raleigh Smith (NU) vs. Austin Brooks/Harry Jadun (MSU) - 9-7
3. Tobias Reitz/Sidarth Balaji (NU) def. Denis Bogatov/Doug Zade (MSU) - 8-5
Order of finish: 3, 1*, 2
Singles:
1. Josh Graves (NU) def. Aaron Pfister (MSU) - 3-6, 7-6 (6), 1-0 (9)
2. No. 109 Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Denis Bogotov (MSU) - 6-3, 6-1
3. Ronnie Hulewicz (MSU) def. Raleigh Smith (NU) - 7-6 (2), 6-4
4. Sidarth Balaji (NU) def. Drew Lied (MSU), 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (6)
5. Alex Pasareanu (NU) def. Austin Brooks (MSU) - 7-5, 6-2
6. Chris Jackman (NU) def. Gijs Linders (MSU) - 6-0, 7-6 (5)
Order of finish: 2, 6, 5*, 4, 3, 1
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