Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Big Ten Championship - Purdue
NU Breaks Down Boilermakers, Advances to Semifinals
4/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 30, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich.--Even with a rain-delay and numerous momentum shifts, Northwestern's 46th-ranked men's tennis team got it done.
In their Big Ten Championship quarterfinal match against fifth-seeded Purdue, the No. 4 seeded Wildcats (15-8) showed their resiliency in the four-hour contest and won 4-1. They will face top-seeded Illinois (26-0) at 9 a.m. (CT) on Saturday.
"I thought this match was our best of the year in terms of how hard we fought," said head coach Paul Torricelli. "This match certainly could have gone either way, and it just shows how much heart we have to get the win."
In doubles, NU fell at No. 3 but bounced back to take the point with wins at the top two spots. First, Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium Lohbr?gge) pulled off an 8-5 victory over Sounak Chatterjee and Filip Koziell at No. 2.
A little while later, a clutch performance by Justin Hoeveler (Ross, Calif./The Branson School) and Chuck Perrin (Atlanta, Ga./The Walker School) clinched the point at No. 1, as the pair won their tiebreaker 7-5 over Troy Havens and David Robinson to take the match 9-8.
"Chuck and Justin did a great job of winning the doubles point for us," said Torricelli. "That point for us was huge."
Only one singles match could be completed before the entire competition, which was approaching the two-hour mark, was moved indoors. Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) defeated Sounak Chatterjee 7-5, 6-3 to bring the Wildcat lead to 2-0.
After a 35-minute delay, the action resumed indoors and Purdue got the first victory to get on the board. But Northwestern hung tight in a pair of three-set, roller coaster matches to beat Purdue.
At the two spot, Tempke was tied with Havens at one set apiece. In the third set, down 3-0, the freshman stormed back to eventually win 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The final point came at No. 3, where Perrin won another clinching tiebreaker, this time a 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) rally over Robinson.
"Purdue was amazing. They took away our momentum at the beginning of singles," said Torricelli. "I think we gained some new life when we moved indoors, and we were then able to hold them back."
Northwestern fell to top-ranked Illinois 7-0 earlier this year.
No. 4 seed Northwestern 4, No. 5 seed Purdue 1
Doubles
No. 1 -- Justin Hoeveler/Perrin (NU) def. Havens/Robinson (PU) 9-8 (5)
No. 2 -- Hanus/Tempke (NU) def. Chatterjee/Koziell (PU) 8-5
No. 3 -- Foster/Rose (PU) def. Christian/Schaechterle (NU) 8-2
Singles
No. 1 -- Paul Rose (PU) def. Tommy Hanus (NU) 7-5, 0-6, 6-4
No. 2 -- Christian Tempke (NU) def. Troy Havens (PU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 -- Chuck Perrin (NU) def. David Robinson (PU) 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4)
No. 4 -- Willy Lock (NU def. Sounak Chatterjee (PU) 7-5, 6-3
No. 5 -- Matt Christian (NU) vs. Colin Foster (PU); abandoned at one set apiece
(1st: PU 7-5, 2nd: NU 7-6(2))
No. 6 -- Adam Schaechterle (NU) vs. Eric Hodgman (PU); abandoned at NU 6-4, 5-3
Length of Match: 3:52
