Northwestern
Michigan
Wolverines Edge Wildcats at Home, 5-2
2/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 24, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 65 Northwestern men's tennis team played tough throughout the evening, but was edged by conference foe Michigan 5-2 Friday at the Combe Tennis Center. Northwestern won at No. 3 doubles and the No. 2 and No. 6 singles positions versus the Wolverines.
Northwestern got an immediate lift in the doubles portion with a win at No. 3 by Juan Gomez (Mexico City, Mexico/South Florida) and Marc Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga./University of Nebraska-Independent Study H.S.). After trailing 3-0 early in their match with Steve Peretz and Scott Bruckman, Gomez and Dwyer stormed back to tie the match at 5-5, then won three of the next four games to claim the 8-6 comeback win.
At No. 1, Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) and Adam Schaechterle (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine) stayed close with Michigan's team of Matko Maravic and Brian Hung, but were edged in the end. Christian and Schaechterle evened the score at 5-5, but the Michigan duo outlasted them for the 8-5 win.
With each team claiming doubles wins, it all came down to Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium Lohbrügge) and Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) for Northwestern. Facing the Wolverine's Ryan Heller and Andrew Mazlin, the Wildcat tandem broke the Michigan team to tie the score at 7-7, dropped the next match, then broke the Wolverines again to force a tiebreaker.
The 'Cats stayed tough in the tiebreaker, but fell to Michigan 8-6, giving UM the doubles point.
After Michigan increased its lead to 2-0 when Christian retired due to injury at No. 5 singles, the Wolverines also notched the match at No. 1.
Maravic got up early on Tempke and took the straight-set win 6-2, 6-2.
Schaechterle kept Northwestern in the match with a key win at No. 6 singles. Schaechterle got up early on Michigan's Peter Aarts and never looked back. Aarts took three-consecutive points in the second set, but Schaechterle fended off his comeback attempt and won the match 6-1, 6-4.
The 'Cats couldn't celebrate Schaechterle's win for too long, however, as Heller clinched the match for the Wolverines just minutes later by topping Dwyer at No. 4 singles 6-4, 6-1.
Lock then came through with a win at No. 2 singles, improving his dual record to a team-best 9-3. Lock got off to a quick start versus Hung, but Hung made a match of it in the second set. After Hung forced the second-set tiebreak, Lock buckled down and outlasted Hung. On match point, Lock forced Hung into an unforced error to take the match 6-2, 7-6 (3).
At No. 3 singles, Juan Gomez dropped the first set, but came through with a big second-set tiebreak win to force the match into a third-set tiebreaker. There, Mazlin bested Gomez for the 6-3, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (5) win.
"This was a good match," head coach Paul Torricelli said. "The guys fought really hard -- there hasn't been a match this year that the guys haven't fought hard and this match was no exception. We're going through some injury issues right now and we're not at our best, but we never gave up."
With the loss, Northwestern falls to 5-7 on the season, 0-2 in Big Ten play. The Wildcats resume conference action when they host Michigan State at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Combe Tennis Center.
Doubles: No. 1 Matko Maravic/Brian Hung (UM) def. Matt Christian/Adam Schaechterle (NU) 8-5 No. 2 Ryan Heller/Andrew Mazlin (UM) def. Christian Tempke/Willy Lock (NU) 9-8 (6)* No. 3 Juan Gomez/Marc Dwyer (NU) def. Steve Peretz/Scott Bruckman (UM) 8-6Order of finish: 1, 3, 2 * Denotes doubles point clinching win
Singles: No. 1 Matko Maravic (UM) def. Christian Tempke (NU) 6-2, 6-2 No. 2 Willy Lock (NU) def. Brian Hung (UM) 6-2, 7-6 (3) No. 3 Andrew Mazlin (UM) def. Juan Gomez (NU) 6-3, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (5) No. 4 Ryan Heller (UM) def. Marc Dwyer (NU) 6-4, 6-1* No. 5 Steve Peretz (UM) def. Matt Christian (NU) Inj. Def. 6-0, 1-0 No. 6 Adam Schaechterle (NU) def. Peter Aarts (UM) 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 1, 6, 4, 2, 3
Players Mentioned
