Northwestern University Athletics
Strong Fall Leads to Early Dual Season Success
5/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 1, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Despite losing three starters to graduation, Northwestern's men's tennis team didn't miss a beat as it started the 2002-03 season. With a revamped lineup, NU won eight of its first 10 dual matches to start the 2003 spring season, this following a strong fall season.
NU began the year with Jackie Jenkins (College Park, Ga./Westlake) and Chuck Perrin (Atlanta, Ga./The Walker School) winning the adidas Invitational doubles title in September. Josh Axler (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) and Adam Schaechterle (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine) continued the strong doubles play at the ITA Midwest Region championships, as the duo advanced to the tourney final.
"The success we had in the fall gave us a new confidence level for the dual season," said NU head coach Paul Torricelli, who finished his 20th season at the helm. "I felt we had terrific team chemistry going into the season."
Schaechterle turned out to be a pleasant surprise, making a quick adjustment to the college game. He posted a team-best 13-3 doubles mark in the fall, as well as a 6-4 singles mark. The Wisconsin native also paired with sophomore Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) to reach the final at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic, just a few weeks before the start of the dual season.
"Adam won the starting job in both doubles and singles and gained terrific experience this season," Torricelli said. "He also provided us with surprising energy and intensity."
The 'Cats opened the season at home against Denver and Northern Illinois. The Wildcats downed the Pioneers and Huskies, each by a 5-2 margin, and prepared for their first big road test--at then-No. 28 Arkansas, the alma mater of assistant coach Jay Udwadia. NU passed the test, upsetting the Razorbacks on their home turf, 4-3, in front of a raucous crowd. For their efforts in such a tough environment, the Wildcats earned the first ITA National Sportsmanship Award after Arkansas head coach Robert Cox's nomination.
NU faced another tough test against then-No. 16 Alabama. The Wildcats started fast, sweeping the doubles point and taking the first singles match for an early 2-0 lead. However, the Crimson Tide took the remaining five points for the win.
NU opened its Big Ten docket with a 7-0 shutout against Wisconsin, and followed that with a tight 4-3 win against Indiana State. Indiana invaded Evanston next and handed NU its first conference loss of the season. Like it did after the loss to Alabama, NU responded with another shutout, this time against city rival DePaul. Sophomore Justin Hoeveler (Ross, Calif./The Branson School) picked up his first singles and doubles dual wins of his career against the Blue Demons, including the match-clincher at No. 5 singles.
After playing seven of its first eight matches at home, NU faced a daunting task ahead--it would play its next seven matches away from Evanston, including matches at top-ranked Illinois and then-No. 30 Rice. Things looked good at the start of the trip, as NU upended Notre Dame and Ball State in late February. The Wildcats trailed 3-1 to the Irish before a spirited rally, capped off by a third set tiebreak-clinching win by Schaechterle.
"Beating Notre Dame was a goal going into this season," Torricelli said. "We also beat Indiana State, a team that knocked us out of the NCAA Tournament the last couple of years. The Arkansas win was a breakthrough and a great way to start the year."
Hanus, who held a 16-7 record at the time, was also in the midst of an eight-match winning streak--the longest such streak on the team this season--and the team was on the verge of achieving its highest ranking (31) since March 2001. Not many expected what would happen over the next few weeks.
NU closed out the road trip 2-5 and went without a win until the beginning of April, when the 'Cats picked up back-to-back wins against Iowa and Penn State. NU closed out the regular season with a two-day trip to Michigan, where it dropped a pair of heartbreakers to Michigan and Michigan State by the same 4-3 score.
"I think the trips to Purdue and Illinois and the trip to Houston (for the Rice Invitational) affected our confidence a little," Torricelli said. "They were all good teams. We needed to pick up a win somewhere in that stretch."
NU concluded the regular season with a 3-7 conference mark, leaving it in a four-way tie for sixth place. The conference tiebreaker rules left NU as the No. 9 seed for the 2003 Big Ten Championship.
For the first time since 1991, the Big Ten Championship was back on the NU campus, giving fans their last glimpse of the team in 2003. NU met eighth-seeded Indiana in first-round action in search of revenge after a 4-3 loss to the Hoosiers on Feb. 15. Like much of the season, NU started strong, as it dominated in doubles play. Jenkins and Schaechterle blanked the Hoosiers' Jakub Praibis and Petr Novotny, 8-0, at No. 3 doubles. Axler and Russell Bennett (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) gave NU the lead with an 8-4 win against John Stone and Ryan Recht, but the Hoosiers controlled the match thereafter, as Praibis, Recht, Novotny and Viktor Libal each garnered straight-set wins.
At 20-16, Hanus again finished the year with the team's best record. It was the second straight season Hanus hit the 20-win plateau. Axler won five of his last six singles matches to finish above .500 for each of his four years at NU. The senior compiled a 76-55 career singles mark.
"Josh really finished the season strong," Torricelli said. "He had never played as high as No. 3 regularly and was rock solid for us."
Junior Ahmed Wahla (Lahore, Pakistan/Lahore American School) stepped into a starting role nicely, posting a 13-12 singles mark. His 13 wins equaled the total number of wins he had his first two seasons. Wahla also posted a 10-10 dual record at the No. 6 spot.
"Ahmed cracked the lineup for the first time and showed steady improvement all season," Torricelli said. "I was pleased with his performance. He worked very hard this season and it paid off."
NU never dropped below No. 58 in the ITA rankings, and it featured players ranked throughout much of the season. Hanus achieved the highest singles ranking, No. 76 in the Sept. 9 preseason poll. He also ranked as high as 82nd in the spring. Axler and Schaechterle were ranked 31st in the preseason doubles poll, while Jenkins and Perrin were the 10th-ranked duo in the nation Feb. 26.
"This year was a roller coaster ride," Torricelli said. "Our condifence was sky high during the winter, but unfortunately we couldn't sustain it down the stretch. The end of the season was disappointing."
NU, which returns four starters next season, concluded 2003 with a 10-12 overall record. It ended the Big Ten Championship ranked 58th.
