Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois-Chicago
Wildcats Extinguish Flames, 7-0
1/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 17, 2010
Results
EVANSTON, Ill.-- Northwestern notched its second dual win of the day with a 7-0 victory over the Illinois-Chicago Flames at Combe Tennis Center Sunday evening. The 'Cats swept all 18 singles and doubles matches on the day to kick off their 2010 season with a 2-0 record.
With freshmen responsible for three of six singles victories and the doubles clincher, head coach Arvid Swan's team is showing the talent behind its eighth-ranked recruiting class.
Alex Sanborn (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) and Joshua Graves (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet) started it off for the 'Cats at No. 2 doubles. Their speedy 8-0 victory over the Flames' Nate Kirk and Dave Robare took only 20 minutes.
Freshman tandem Sidarth Balaji (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) and Spencer Wolf (Coral Springs, Fla./Laurel Springs) was up next with an 8-3 victory over UIC's Luis Gonzaga and Scott Shepardson.
No. 1 doubles between the Wildcat duo of Andrew McCarthy (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Tobias Reitz (Reinbeck, Germany/Sachsenwaldschule Reinbeck) and the Flame team of Sebastian Lystad and Bastian Harbo. Both teams fought for break opportunities to start the match and then swapped breaks before sending it to a tiebreak at 7-all. In the tiebreak, the momentum swung towards the Wildcats and frustration was evident in the body language of Lystad and Harbo as the 'Cats toughed out a 7-5 win.
In singles, Balaji was the first off the courts with a quick 6-3, 6-1 victory over UIC's Luis Gonzaga. The freshman Wildcat broke Gonzaga's serve to open the match and never looked back.
Freshman Mark Schanerman (N. Miami Beach, Fla./Dr. Michael M. Krop HS) notched the first dual victory of his college career with a 6-0, 6-2 win over UIC's Camilo Giraldo. Schanerman won the first 10 points of the match before Giraldo managed to get on the board. The Wildcat closed the match with a service winner.
Eric Spector (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) clinched it for the 'Cats with a victory over Dave Robare at No. 2, the first time he has occupied the No. 2 spot in the lineup. The match was even in the early going, but the Wildcat sophomore broke in the third game to gain the momentum for a 6-2 first set. The second set started with both players unable to hold serve, exchanging breaks twice, but Spector took control and won the match on a Robare double fault.
Spencer Wolf won his second straight-set match of the day, defeating the Flames' Nate Kirk, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
At No. 5 singles, team captain Sanborn was broken early in the first set, but clawed back to take the first set, 6-4, over Nicolas Ospina. The Wildcat senior then cruised the rest of the match to a 6-0 victory in the second set, clinching the match with a forehand that skidded just out of Ospina's reach.
Graves won the 'Cats' 18th match of the day with a straight-set victory over UIC's Bastian Harbo. Harbo broke early in the first set to take a 3-0 lead, but the Wildcat sophomore rallied and took the next six games to take the set, 6-3. He then took the second set by the same score.
The Wildcats next face No. 18 Alabama in what should be quite the test for the young NU team. The match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24 at Combe Tennis Center.
Northwestern 7, UIC 0
Singles:
1. Joshua Graves (NU) def. Bastian Harbo (UIC) 6-3, 6-3
2. Eric Spector (NU) def. Dave Robare (UIC) 6-2, 6-3
3. Sidarth Balaji (NU) def. Luiz Gonzaga (UIC) 6-3, 6-1
4. Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Nate Kirk (UIC) 6-2, 6-1
5. Alex Sanborn (NU) def. Nicolas Ospina (UIC) 6-4, 6-0
6. Mark Schanerman (NU) def. Camilo Giraldo (UIC) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles:
1. Tobias Reitz/Andrew McCarthy (NU) def. Sebastian Lystad/Bastian Harbo (UIC) 8-7 (7-5)
2. Joshua Graves/Alex Sanborn (NU) def. Dave Robare/Nate Kirk (UIC) 8-1
3. Sidarth Balaji/Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Scott Shepardson/Luiz Gonzaga (UIC) 8-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,6,2,4,5,1)
