Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Head To Champaign, Ill. For Big Ten Championship
4/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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April 26, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - With five wins in its last six matches, the red-hot Northwestern men's tennis team travels to Champaign, Ill. this weekend for the Big Ten Championship Thursday through Sunday, April 28 through May 1.
"We've really been coming on lately and playing some great tennis," head coach Paul Torricelli said. "We need to keep the momentum we've built up over the past few weeks going."
At last year's tournament, the No. 4 seed Wildcats won their first match against No. 5 seed Purdue, 4-1, but fell to top-seed Illinois, 4-0.
Northwestern enters this year's Championships as the No. 5 seed, and will begin competition in the quarterfinal round at 10 a.m. Friday, April 29 against No. 4 seed Indiana. The Wildcats and Hoosiers finished the conference season with identical 6-4 records, but Indiana's 4-3 win over NU back on April 2 earned the Hoosiers a slightly higher seeding.
In their dual match this season, the two squads battled through windy conditions at Vandy Christie Tennis Center as Indiana barely escaped Evanston with a one-point victory.
Seniors Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Chuck Perrin (Atlanta, Ga./The Walker School) knocked off Hoosier tandem Recht and Stone -- ranked No. 56 in the nation at the time -- by an 8-3 count.
The Hoosiers claimed the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions though, and NU came up just short in singles competition despite wins from sophomores Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Lohbrugge) and Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) and Perrin.
A new season begins this weekend though and both teams seem headed in opposite directions. Indiana has dropped three of its last five, while NU has won five of six. A Wildcat win on Friday would likely set up a semifinal bout against top-seeded Illinois, whom they lost to earlier this season, 5-2.
A handful of 'Cats enter this weekend's tournament riding winning streaks. Lock has won seven-straight and boasts a team-best 24-8 overall, 18-4 dual, and 9-1 Big Ten record. Tempke has won his last two in a row, and the same goes for junior Adam Schaechterle (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine), who arguably turned in his best performance of the year this past Sunday by clinching NU's 5-2 upset over then-No. 24 Ohio State.
For live results and other information regarding the Big Ten Men's Tennis Championship, please visit NUsports.com.
