Northwestern
Penn State
Wildcats Fend Off Nittany Lions, 4-3
4/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 3, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern scrapped to win a pair of tight doubles matches, 9-8, Sunday afternoon against Penn State, giving the Wildcats the team point and the inside track to beating the Nittany Lions, 4-3, after tacking on three singles victories.
The win improves the `Cats to 7-10 overall, 2-3 in the conference. PSU drops to 13-4 and 2-3 in the Big Ten.
All three doubles matches were incredibly close. Penn State's Barry and Berger edged Justin Hoeveler and Matt Christian at No. 2, 8-6, but the Northwestern rallied to win at both the No. 1 and 3 positions in thrilling tiebreakers, 9-8.
At No. 1, Penn State broke the `Cats serve to open the match, but Tommy Hanus and Chuck Perrin shook it off by claiming four of the next six games to go on top, 4-3. The two squads were nip and tuck the rest of the way, knotting themselves at 6-6, 7-7 and again at 8-8. In the tiebreak, the `Cats disposed of Scatliffe and Hunter fairly easily, 7-2.
No. 3 doubles was a streaky affair that saw Willy Lock and Christian Tempke drop the opening game, win the next three, but drop the following three to fall behind 4-3. Later tied it at 5-5, NU broke PSU's serve to take a slight lead and then moved to within one point of taking the match, 7-5, by holding serve. But the Nittany Lions responded by holding serve on their end before breaking the `Cats to tie things back up at 7-7. The teams moved to a tiebreak, where NU fended off Penn State to secure the doubles point.
In singles action, Tempke and Lock recorded easier, straight-set singles victories to make them both 2-0 on the weekend. Tempke defeated Malcolm 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2. Lock won a tight first set, 7-6 (4), but cruised in the second set, 6-1, improving his team-leading dual mark to 13-4. He is one victory shy of cracking the 20-win barrier at 19-8 overall.
Hanus recorded Northwestern's other singles victory at No. 1. Tied 2-2 in the first set, Hanus went off. The senior won six-straight games and closed out his 11th victory on the year, 6-2, 6-2.
Northwestern returns to action next weekend, Saturday, April 9 at Minnesota.
#64 Northwestern 4, #63 Penn State 3
Doubles
No. 1 - Hanus/Perrin (NU) def. Scatliffe/Hunter (PSU), 9-8 (2)
No. 2 - Barry/Berger (PSU) def. Hoeveler/Christian (NU), 8-6
No. 3 - Tempke/Lock (NU) def. Sherman/James (PSU), 9-8 (7)
Singles
No. 1 - Tommy Hanus (NU) def. Mark Barry (PSU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 - Christian Tempke (NU) def. Malcolm Scatliffe (PSU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 - Ryan Berger (PSU) def. Chuck Perrin (NU), 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (8)
No. 4 - Willy Lock (NU) def. Bradley Hunter (PSU), 7-6 (4), 6-1
No. 5 - Michael James (PSU) def. Adam Schaechterle (NU), 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
No. 6 - James Dwyer (PSU) def. Matt Christian (NU), 6-2, 6-1
Order of doubles finish: 2, 3, 1
Order of singles finish: 6, 2, 1, 4, 3, 5
Players Mentioned
