Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Nabs First NCAA Tournament Bid Since 2005
4/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 28, 2009
2009 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships Bracket 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 42 Northwestern (18-8, 6-4 Big Ten) will compete in the NCAA Championships for the first time since the 2005 season when it faces No. 18 Wake Forest (20-9, 10-4 ACC) in the first round on Friday, May 8. No. 11 Kentucky, host of the regional, will take on Cleveland State in the other first-round match, with the winners competing for the regional title and a berth in the round of 16. The final four rounds will be held May 14 through 19 at Texas A&M.
Second-year head coach Arvid Swan has coached his Wildcat squad to a remarkable turnaround in just one season. The 'Cats, who went 0-10 in regular season conference play a year ago, entered the 2009 Big Ten Tournament as the fifth seed with a 6-4 Big Ten mark.
"It is an honor to be selected to the 2009 NCAA Team Tournament," said coach Swan. "The players worked very hard over the last two years to achieve this goal. We are now turning our focus to preparing for a strong Wake Forest team."
After dropping their first two conference matches at Illinois and Indiana, the 'Cats finished the regular season on a roll, winning six of their final eight Big Ten duals. This included a four-match streak in which NU upset Wisconsin and Minnesota on successive weekends. NU has dropped the doubles point just seven times in 26 duals.
Joshua Graves (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet) and Alexander Thams (Stockholm, Sweden/Enskilda Gymnasiet) lead the 'Cats with 25 wins on the season. Graves and Thams also own 19-5 and 17-8 marks in dual play, respectively. Captain Alex Sanborn (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid), owner of a 21-12 record, won six of his final eight matches.
This will be the first NCAA experience for every Wildcat on the roster as Northwestern has not made the tournament since 2005, when it dropped a first-round match to Clemson.
A full preview of the match against Wake Forest will be available next week.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
HILARY J. BOONE VARSITY TENNIS COMPLEX
LEXINGTON KY
(All times Eastern)
Friday, May 8
10 a.m. Match 1: #3 Northwestern vs. #2 Wake Forest
1 p.m. Match 2: #4 Cleveland State vs. #1 Kentucky
Saturday, May 9
1 p.m. Match 3: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2
