'Cats Best Broncos, 5-2

2/4/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Feb. 4, 2012

Results

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Score: Northwestern 2, Western Michigan 2
Records: NU (5-0, 0-0 Big Ten), Western Michigan (4-3, 0-0 MAC)
Next NU Event: Tuesday, February 7 -- vs. Notre Dame (Evanston, Ill.), 5:30 p.m.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 62 Northwestern is off to its second 5-0 start under head coach Arvid Swan after dropping a familiar Western Michigan foe, 5-2, Saturday in the Combe Tennis Center. The win was Northwestern's 48th all-time over the Broncos.

"I thought we had good play out of our doubles," Swan said after the match. "That gave us good momentum into singles play and for the most part we took advantage of that."

The `Cats began the double portion with a big statement as both the No. 2 and No. 3 pairs got off to a quick 5-0 start in each of their matches. NU's No. 3 duo of Sidarth Balaji and Tobias Reitz earned their fourth win of the spring in convincing fashion over the Broncos' Marc Shideler and Pablo Olivarez. Balaji and Reitz cruised to a fast-paced 7-0 lead and eventually gave the `Cats the first win of the day with an 8-2 decision.

At No. 2, Raleigh Smith and Alex Pasareanu stormed out to claim the first five games over WMU's Zeyad Montasser and Aaron Wong. Smith and Pasareanu lost the next three of four, but the tandem quickly regained control and won the final two game to clinch the first team point.

With the team score already 1-0 in Northwestern's favor, the No. 1 Wildcat tandem of veterans Josh Graves and Spencer Wolf kept up the pace. After dropping their first game, Graves and Wolf battled back and claimed the next four games, including two from a 40-15 deficit. They would only need two more wins to secure their team-best fifth victory of the season, downing Nadin Indre and Ross VanderPloeg, 8-4.

During singles play, Northwestern got off to yet another fast start and `Cats claimed first-set victories on five of the six courts. Graves led the charge, blanking Simon Blomberg, 6-0 in the first and 6-3 in the second. Graves dropped two of the first three games in the second set, but the senior regained control and earned NU its second team point.

At No. 3, Wolf fought off a 2-0 deficit against Olivarez to take the first, 6-3. The two traded blows in the second, but with things tied up at 3-3, Wolf fended off Olivarez and strung together three straight games to take the set, 6-3. The win inched the `Cats closer to the all-important fourth point, up 3-0.

Smith followed suit for Northwestern, and ended up clinching the match with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4. In the first set, Smith battled Montasser in multiple deuces during the seventh game with things tied 3-3. Smith took the 4-3 lead and never looked back, reeling off wins in the next eight of nine games. After the match was clinched, freshman Pasareanu showed his grit with a hard-fought match - especially in the second set which came down to tiebreaker decision - but ultimately fell to Ross VanderPloeg, 6-2, 7-6 (11-9) to give Western Michigan its first team point of the day.

Northwestern dropped another heartbreaker shortly after, this time at No. 1. Balaji took the first set easily over Indre, 6-2, but the sophomore Bronco took over the second set, taking it 6-1. With things tied at one set apiece, Balaji hung tough, going point for point with Indre, but losing the first two games of the set proved to be all the difference. Balaji eventually lost to Indre, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

One highlight of the day came from the play of freshman Nikhil Jayashankar at the No. 6 spot. Jayashankar easily took the first set, 6-1, but Aaron Wong kept things tight by taking the second, 6-3. The two went game for game until the end, forcing a superbreaker. Jayashankar jumped out to an early lead in the race to seven points and eventually downed Wong, 7-4, giving the `Cats their fifth team point and closing the door on the Broncos.

Next up, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish visit Evanston at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Designated as a High School Night, the match includes free admission and free pizza for all fans in attendance.

Singles (Order of Finish: 2, 3, 4*, 5, 1, 6):
1: Nadin Indre (WMU) def. Sidarth Balaji (NU) - 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
2: Josh Graves (NU) def. Simon Blomberg (WMU) - 6-3, 6-0
3: Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Pablo Olivarez (WMU) - 6-3, 6-3
4: Raleigh Smith (NU) def. Zeyad Montasser (WMU) - 6-3, 6-4
5: Ross VanderPloeg (WMU) def. Alex Pasareanu (NU) - 6-2, 7-6 (11-9)
6: Nikhi Jayashankar (NU) def. Aaron Wong (WMU) - 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4)

Doubles (Order of Finish: 3, 2*, 1):
1: Josh Graves/Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Nadin Indre/Ross VanderPloeg (WMU) - 8-4
2: Raleigh Smith/Alex Pasareanu (NU) def. Zeyad Montasser/Aaron Wong (WMU) - 8-3
3: Sidarth Balaji/Tobias Reitz (NU) def. Marc Shideler/Pablo Olivarez (WMU) - 8-2

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