Northwestern
Michigan State
'Cats Sweep Spartans 7-0
2/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 25, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 62 Northwestern's men's tennis team dominated the courts on Saturday night, winning all but two sets as the 'Cats swept No. 75 Michigan State 7-0 at Combe Tennis Center to bring their Big Ten record to 1-2.
"I was really pleased how the guys bounced back and performed tonight," head coach Paul Torricelli said. "Friday night (against Michigan) was a very tough match and it would have been easy our players to let down some. But, once again, they played their hearts out. I can't think of one match this year where every single one of them hasn't played hard."
The 'Cats started the night off right, winning the doubles point. As is often the case in the Big Ten, it did not come easily.
After watching the Northwestern duo of Juan Gomez (Mexico City, Mexico/South Florida) and Marc Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga./University of Nebraska-Independent Study H.S.) fall to Michigan State's John Allare and Joseph McWilliams 8-2, the Wildcats needed to sweep the remaining two doubles matches to gain the doubles point.
With their match tied 6-6, Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) and Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium Lohbrügge) broke the Spartans' Michael Flowers and Alex Forger to pull ahead 7-6. Lock then proceeded to serve out the match and earn an 8-6 victory.
The doubles matches now even at one apiece, the point came down to a battle of ranked pairs.
Northwestern's 30th-ranked pair of Adam Schaechterle and Matt Christian proved up to the task, defeating Michigan State's 41st-ranked Nick Rinks and Adam Monich 8-4. The 'Cats' duo broke the Spartans' pair in a grueling game with the match tied at 3-3, and then held serve and broke the Spartans once more to secure the doubles point for Northwestern.
"Matt (Christian) and Christian (Tempke) are struggling with arm issues and are not at their best," Torricelli said. "Matt in particular has battled through a very painful elbow condition, but you would never know it the way he played in doubles. I am very encouraged by the way our doubles teams are starting to come around. Matt and Adam are really playing with a lot of confidence and the switch we made at No. 2 and No. 3 is showing promise. I really think our best tennis is still to come this spring."
The 'Cats took the momentum from winning the doubles point and ran with it, as all six Wildcats won the first set of their singles matches.
As he has done all the year, team captain Schaechterle set the tone for his teammates with an impressive 6-2, 6-2 victory over McWilliams at No. 5 singles. Schaechterle is now riding a four-match winning streak.
Schaechterle's fellow teammates at the back end of the Wildcat lineup quickly secured the match for the 'Cats. Alexey Evstratenkov (Moscow, Russia/Moscow International Gymnasia) defeated Scott Rasmussen 7-5, 6-1 at No. 6 singles to put the 'Cats up 3-0, and fellow freshman Dwyer clinched the victory with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Forger at No. 4 singles.
"Alexey stepped in and did a great job against State," Torricelli said. "He hasn't had the playing time he needs lately and looked very poised."
In a battle of ranked players, 69th-ranked Tempke pushed the margin to 5-0 with a 7-6, 6-2 win over 77th-ranked Rinks. Tempke now has three victories against ranked opponents for this dual-match season.
The 'Cats' Lock improved to 2-0 for the weekend with a solid 7-5, 6-3 win over Monich at No. 2 singles. The victory improves Lock's season-best winning streak to five.
Gomez completed the sweep for Northwestern by winning the only match that went to three sets. The Wildcat sophomore defeated John Allare 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (4) at No. 3 singles.
The 'Cats improved their dual-match record to 6-7 (1-2 Big Ten) with the victory. Northwestern will now hit the road for the first of its four-straight road matches when it heads to Arizona State on March 6.
Results No. 62 Northwestern 7, No. 75 Michigan State 0Doubles 1. No. 30 Adam Schaechterle/Matt Christian (NU) def. No. 41 Adam Monich/Nick Rinks (MSU) 8-4 2. Christian Tempke/Willy Lock def. Michael Flowers/Alex Forger (MSU) 8-6 3. John Allare/Joseph McWilliams (MSU) def. Marc Dwyer/Juan Gomez (NU) 8-2 Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1* * denotes doubles-point clincher
Singles 1. No. 69 Christian Tempke (NU) def. No. 77 Nick Rinks (MSU) 7-5, 6-2 2. Willy Lock (NU) def. Adam Monich (MSU) 7-5, 6-3 3. Juan Gomez (NU) def. John Allare (MSU) 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (4) 4. Marc Dwyer (NU) def. Alex Forger (MSU) 6-2, 6-4 5. Adam Schaechterle (NU) def. Joseph McWilliams (MSU) 6-2, 6-2 6. Alexey Evstratenkov (NU) def. Scott Rasmussen (MSU) 7-5, 6-1 Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4*, 1, 2, 3 * denotes match clincher
Players Mentioned
