Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Tennis Season in Review
5/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 17, 2001
Evanston, Ill. - In a season that goes by in the blink of an eye, one could compare the 2000-01 Northwestern men's tennis season to that of a roller coaster ride. It began with a steep climb up -- up in the rankings that is. Unfortunately, the tracks only went so high, and the ride quickly descended upon a midseason slump. Sparked by key conference victories, the ride picked up again and gained momentum in the final weeks of the season. But like all good rides it ended way to soon. In fact, this ride was over a week before anyone actually knew it.
The Wildcats began the 2001 dual season on a tear, knocking off higher-ranked opponents on a weekly basis. NU started the year ranked 57th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, but victories over No. 37 Louisville (5-2) and No. 33 Boise State (4-3) gave the `Cats increased national recognition.
NU opened the Big Ten season against 30th-ranked Michigan and eked out a 4-3 win over the Wolverine. A sweep of Michigan State the following day gave NU its best start in more than a decade at 6-0.
A trip to the neighboring state of Indiana the next weekend began a downward spiral for the `Cats that would take them more than a month to emerge from. First NU ran into a tough Notre Dame squad, who was ranked 26th in the nation at the time. NU lost their first match of the season to the Fighting Irish in a close 5-2 battle. In the loss, the Wildcats battled the Irish to three sets in four of the six singles matches and forced six tiebreakers, including three in Ryan Edlefsen's (Eden Prairie, Minn./Pepperdine) loss at No. 5. The `Cats won their other match that weekend to unranked Ball State, but only by the smallest of margins (4-3).
The Wildcats competition only got harder as the season went on. At the Blue-Gray Invitational, the `Cats faced three higher-ranked teams in a three-day span, losing to 26th-ranked Fresno State, 33rd-ranked Tulsa and 20th-ranked Alabama.
The `Cats resumed conference play upon returning from the long road trip south. Head coach Paul Torricelli also started to experiment with his lineup that had maintained consistent for most of the season thus far. Brad Erickson (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene) and Jackie Jenkins (College Park, Ga./Westlake) began sharing time at No. 1 singles, while a variety of doubles teams were used. NU had gone 10 matches in the middle of the season without winning the doubles point.
The state of Indiana was no more friendly to the `Cats the second time around, as NU lost close matches to Purdue (4-3) and Indiana (4-3).
On April 7 against Iowa, the Wildcats finally got what they had been so close to in the past weeks -- a 4-3 conference victory. It seemed the cure for the ailing `Cats was a sunny spring day match in front of a boisterous home crowd.
The `Cats were back on track and just in time, as NU entertained Minnesota and Wisconsin over the Easter weekend. In a tension filled match, the `Cats handed the Gophers a 5-2 loss. Riding the momentum, the `Cats swept Wisconsin on Easter Sunday for their first sweep since mid-February. With the weekend success, the `Cats moved from seventh to third place in the conference standings with one weekend to play.
NU defeated Penn State (4-3) and then fell to Ohio State (5-2) in the final regular season weekend to earn the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.
NU received a bye in the opening round of the Big Ten Championship in Madison and faced Purdue in the quarterfinals. The `Cats were on the winning end this time earning, a 4-2 decision. A 5-2 loss to eventual Big Ten Champion Ohio State the next day ended the `Cats run at a conference title.
Nobody figured that the loss to OSU in Madison would be the end of the 2001 season for NU, but that is exactly what happened when the NCAA committee announced the field of 64 for the championships. NU's name was left out. Shocked and disappointed, the `Cats season -- unbeknownst to them -- had already been over for a week.
Northwestern finished the year with a 14-8 overall mark, 6-4 in the Big Ten. Individually, Erickson was named to the All-Big Ten team for the second straight year after garnering a 6-4 conference record. Josh Axler (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) will return next season with a nine-match win streak intact. He has not dropped a set since March 21.
It may have been a bumpy ride for the `Cats in 2001, but with the loss of only one senior the 2001-2002 season could be smoother sailing.
