Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa
Wildcats Upend 57th-Ranked Hawkeyes in Iowa City, 5-2
4/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 8, 2011
Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center)
Score: Northwestern 5, No. 57 Iowa 2
Records: NU (11-8, 2-3 Big Ten), Iowa (8-8, 2-4 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, April 10 at No. 15 Illinois • Champaign, Ill. • 11 a.m.
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- For the second time in as many outings, Northwestern outlasted a Big Ten foe down the stretch of a tight match, this time doing so on the road against a ranked team. NU won a tough doubles point and broke a 2-2 tie by taking three-straight singles matches to defeat No. 57 Iowa at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center Friday afternoon.
"Anytime you can win a Big Ten match on the road, especially against a ranked team, you have to come away knowing you played well that day," said head coach Arvid Swan. "Raleigh (Smith) winning up in his first match at four was huge for us, and other guys stepped up as well. It was definitely an encouraging effort against a team we respect."
For the third time in five Big Ten dual matches, Northwestern walked away with the doubles point in tow after it pulled out two tight 8-6 outcomes. Sophomore Chris Jackman and freshman Raleigh Smith claimed the first win off the courts when they clipped Garrett Dunn and Tom Mroziewicz to improve to 10-4 at the No. 3 position this year.
At No. 1, Joshua Graves and sophomore Spencer Wolf were tripped up by Marc Bruche and Will Vasos for only their fourth defeat of the year, leaving the doubles point in the hands of Tobias Reitz and Andrew McCarthy at No. 2. The Wildcat tandem did not disappoint, holding on to best Austen Kauss and Jonas Dierkx to secure the early NU advantage.
After the Hawkeyes tied the score at one thanks to a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles by Mroziewicz over Jackman, Northwestern promptly regained an edge when Reitz put away Dunn, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 5 spot. It was Reitz' eighth dual win of his junior campaign and it pulled him level at 2-2 in the Big Ten this year.
Iowa again evened the team score when Will Vasos pulled away down the stretch against NU sophomore Sidarth Balaji, winning by a 6-1, 6-4, 2-6 final score. But the advantage didn't last long, as Wolf and Smith each were closing in on victories at No. 3 and 4 singles, respectively.
After sneaking past Nikita Zotov in a first-set tiebreaker, Wolf picked up a key break down the stretch in the second and found himself up 5-4, putting away the match from there. Things were equally as tight in the second set for Smith, who eventually outlasted Kauss, 6-2, 7-6, to pick up a win in his first career outing on the No. 4 singles line.
Graves was in a battle with Hawkeye senior Marc Bruche, coming back after dropping the opening frame to win the second before working to a 4-4 tie in the third. But Graves was too tough down the stretch, claiming the last two games to win for the ninth time this dual season and bring to a close NU's 5-2 victory.
Next up for Northwestern is a date with 15th-ranked Illinois at 11 a.m. Sunday in Champaign, where the Wildcats will aim to stretch a Big Ten dual match winning streak to three for the first time since April 12, 2009.
Northwestern 5, No. 57 Iowa 2
Singles:
1: Joshua Graves (NU) def. Marc Bruche (IA), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
2: Will Vasos (IA) def. Sidarth Balaji (NU), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
3: Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Nikita Zotov (IA), 7-6, 6-4
4: Raleigh Smith (NU) def. Austen Kauss (IA), 6-2, 7-6
5: Tobias Reitz (NU) def. Garrett Dunn (IA), 6-4, 6-2
6: Tom Mroziewicz (IA) def. Chris Jackman (NU), 6-2, 6-4
Doubles:
1: Bruche/Vasos (IA) def. Graves/Wolf (NU), 8-6
2: McCarthy/Reitz (NU) def. Kauss/Dierckx (IA), 8-6
3: Jackman/Smith (NU) def. Dunn/Mroziewicz (IA), 8-6
Order of Finish:
Singles (6, 5, 2, 3, 4*, 1)
Doubles (3, 1, 2*)
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!
