'Cats Rally Past Irish, 4-3

Feb. 22, 2003

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - After falling behind 3-1 to 44th-ranked Notre Dame, Northwestern rallied with a trio of three-set wins to capture a dramatic 4-3 victory Saturday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Down 3-2, the Wildcats got big wins from sophomore Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) at No. 1 and freshman Adam Schaechterle (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine), who clinched the match in a third-set tiebreaker against Irish freshman Patrick Buchanan.

The Wildcats, who improved to 7-2, won four of six singles matches to beat the Irish for the first time in five years.

"Our guys fought hard to get back in the match," said NU head coach Paul Torricelli. "It was especially gutsy after such a tough loss last week against Indiana. I'm extremely proud of the way we fought for this win."

Junior Ahmed Wahla (Lahore, Pakistan/Lahore American School) started the Northwestern rally by completing a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win against Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo at No. 6 singles. The final two matches on the court ended within seconds of each other. Hanus broke serve in the 11th game of the final set and finished a classic 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 victory against No. 72 Luis Haddock at No. 1 singles. It was Hanus' sixth straight win, improving his dual record to 7-1.

With the entire match riding on a third-set tiebreaker, it took only two more points for Schaechterle to complete his 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) win against Buchanan at No. 5 singles.

Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point for just the third time this spring. Schaechterle and Josh Axler (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman), ranked 31st nationally, rallied from a 4-2 deficit for an 8-5 win at No. 3.

NU returns to action Feb. 28 at Ball State.

Northwestern 4, Notre Dame 3

Doubles
1. Brent D'Amico/Matthew Scott (ND) def. Jackie Jenkins/Chuck Perrin (NU), 8-6
2. Luis Haddock/Brian Farrell (ND) def. Tommy Hanus/Russell Bennett (NU), 8-3
3. Josh Axler/Adam Schaechterle (NU) def. Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo/Ben Hatten (ND), 8-5

Singles
1. Hanus (NU) def. Haddock (ND), 7-6, (4), 6-7 (3), 7-5
2. Scott (ND) def. Jenkins (NU), 6-2, 7-6 (4)
3. Axler (NU) def. D'Amico (ND), 6-1, 6-3
4. Farrell (ND) def. Perrin (NU), 6-4, 6-2
5. Schaechterle (NU) def. Patrick Buchanan (ND), 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-6 (3)
6. Ahmed Wahla (NU) def. Lopez-Acevedo (ND), 7-5, 3-6, 6-3

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Adam Schaechterle

Northwestern University Athletics