Northwestern
Ball State
'Cats Clip Cardinals, 4-3
1/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Complete Results in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Jan. 28, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - After dropping two of three doubles match to fall behind 1-0 to Ball State Friday night, Northwestern rallied on the strength of four singles victories to squeak by the Cardinals 4-3. The Wildcats improve to 3-1 on the year, while Ball State evens up to 2-2.
Senior Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and junior Adam Schaechterle (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine) were the only Northwestern pair to win a doubles match, improving their mark as a duo to 3-1 on the year.
All square through the first half of their match, a double-fault by Ball State gave Hanus and Schaechterle a slight 6-5 advantage. In the next game, the duo recorded three straight points off Schaechterle's precision service game. But Ball State threatened with two quick scores of its own. Then, a barrage of quick exchanges at the net by all four players came to an end when Schaechterle over-handed a shot down the middle of the court for a 7-5 advantage.
Two games later, a shot by Hanus gave the `Cats their first win of the day, 8-6.
At the No. 3 doubles position, senior Justin Hoeveler (Ross, Calif./The Branson School) and sophomore Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) found themselves in a deep 6-1 hole to Newman and Knable. The duo battled back to make the match interesting at 7-4, but ultimately fell 8-4.
The decisive match played out at the No. 1 position, with senior Chuck Perrin (Atlanta, Ga./The Walker School) and sophomore Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium Lohbrugge) taking on 56th-ranked Thompson and Baccarani. The Cardinal duo earned their squad a 1-0 team advantage, defeating Perrin and Tempke 6-4.
Heading into singles competition, the `Cats needed at least four wins to claim a victory. Early on, it looked as though they would do just that.
Schaechterle and sophomore Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) both shot out to early leads in their singles matches. Each won their first set 6-1. Hanus and Christian claimed their opening sets by scores of 6-4 and 6-3, respectively, and Northwestern was right back on track.
Lock and Schaechterle mirrored one another again in the second set, shaking off 3-1 deficits to tie their opponents at 4-4. Lock completed his mini-comeback with a 7-5 win in the second frame, improving his record to a Northwestern-best 4-0 on the year.
Schaechterle dropped his second set 6-4, but rebounded to take the third set 6-3. The victory evened Schaechterle's singles record to 2-2.
At the No. 6 position, Christian finished his opponent, Patrick Thompson, in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. It was the first singles victory of the year for the Troy, Mich. native and helped the `Cats increase their lead to 3-1.
Tempke got out to a slow start in his match, falling 6-2 to open. But he rallied for wins of 6-1 and 7-6 to clinch the match for the `Cats.
Hanus dropped his second and third set, losing his first singles match of the year.
Perrin had another marathon match against Matt Laramore at the No. 2 slot. The Atlanta, Ga. native dropped his opening set 6-2, but won 7-6 in the second set. He later fell 7-5 in the decisive set.
Northwestern will have tomorrow off before finishing its weekend of competition by hosting 18th-ranked North Carolina Sunday, Jan. 30 at 1 p.m.
Northwestern 4, Ball State 3
Singles
No. 1 - Matt Baccarani (BS) def. Tommy Hanus (NU), 4-6, 7-6, 7-5
No. 2 - Matt Laramore (BS) def. Chuck Perrin (NU), 6-2, 6-7, 7-5
No. 3 - Christian Tempke (NU) def. Tony Epkey (BS), 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (clincher)
No. 4 - Willy Lock (NU) def. Paul Newman (BS), 6-1, 7-5
No. 5 - Adam Schaechterle (NU) def. Jan Polhamus (BS), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
No. 6 - Matt Christian (NU) def. Patrick Thompson (BS), 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 - Thompson/Baccarani (BS) def. Perrin/Tempke (NU), 8-6
No. 2 - Schaechterle/Hanus (NU) def. Epkey/Rhodes (BS), 8-6
No. 3 - Newman/Knable (BS) def. Christian/Hoeveler (BS), 8-4
Players Mentioned
