Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
San Diego
'Cats Topple Toreros, 6-1
1/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 26, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's 56th-ranked men's tennis team learned from last weekend's matches and came through in the clutch, upsetting 42nd-ranked San Diego 6-1 at Combe Tennis Center Friday evening.
In yet another tightly contested match early in the dual season, it was the 'Cats who came through at the key moments against the Toreros.
"We did what we set out to do tonight," Northwestern Head Coach Paul Torricelli said. "We won the doubles point and came up with the key points in singles to win the dual."
The 'Cats gained some early momentum against the higher-ranked Toreros, winning a pair of doubles matches to claim the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead. The 27th-ranked duo of Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) and Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) set the tone for the Wildcats, finishing first with an 8-4 victory over San Diego's Thomas Liversage and Chris Coetzee at No. 1 doubles.
The Wildcat tandem broke serve to gain a 2-1 lead when Lock made an outstanding service return to gain a break-point opportunity, and then the duo fought off a pair of break points in the next game to maintain their momentum and eventually take the match.
Shortly after Lock and Christian claimed No. 1 doubles, Northwestern's No. 3 doubles pair, Marc Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga./University of Nebraska-Independent Study HS) and Alex Sanborn (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid), guaranteed the 'Cats would get the doubles point with an 8-5 win over the Toreros' Ryo Sekiguchi and Levon Brown. An early break gave the duo a 3-1 lead they would never relinquish.
With the doubles point already decided, the Wildcats' No. 2 doubles pair of Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium Lohbrügge) and Juan Gomez (Mexico City, Mexico) fought valiantly but could not overcome a service break, falling 8-5 to San Diego's Jonas Mouly and Charl Wolmarans.
The singles matches were even tighter than doubles. While the first five singles match were close throughout, the Wildcats' Sanborn cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Brown at No. 6 singles to earn a 2-0 lead for the 'Cats.
The victory pushes Sanborn's singles record in dual matches to 4-1, which gives the freshman the team's best singles record in duals.
Northwestern found itself one match away from victory after Lock beat Mouly 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 singles to make the lead 3-0 in favor of the 'Cats. The Wildcat senior used a couple of timely breaks take the match, as he earned the only break in each set when he broke Mouly's serve in the Torero's final service game of each set.
The remaining four matches all went three sets. Gomez came through with the clincher for the 'Cats, rallying from a one-set deficit and playing a dominant third set to down Sekiguchi 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
Just before Christian lost to the Torero's Coetzee 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 at No. 3 singles, Tempke matched Gomez's feat, as he came back from a one-set deficit and used a stellar third set to defeat Liversage 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. The match was Tempke's first at No. 1 singles this dual season after playing No. 1 singles for the 'Cats all of last year.
Dwyer capped off the night with a thrilling win at No. 5 singles, breaking Wolmarans's serve in the final game of the match to win 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. On match point the Wildcat sophomore dropped in a lob shot over the Torero's head to end the match.
With the victory the 'Cats pushed their record above .500 to 3-2 and earned their second victory against a ranked opponent. With the loss the Toreros fall to 0-2.
Northwestern will continue their seven-match homestand on Sunday when they take on 24th-ranked Wake Forest. The match, which precedes the women's tennis match against Duke, will begin at 9 a.m. with singles play. The doubles portion of the dual will only be played if singles ends in a 3-3 tie.
