Wildcats Win Thriller Over Minnesota, 4-3

3/31/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

March 31, 2012

Results | Photo Gallery

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Vandy Christie Tennis Center)
Score: No. 53 Northwestern 4, No. 36 Minnesota 3
Records: NU (10-6, 3-1 Big Ten), Minnesota (8-4, 3-1 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, April 1 -- vs. Wisconsin (Evanston, Ill.), Noon

EVANSTON, Ill. -- On a cool and cloudy day on the shores of Lake Michigan the Northwestern Wildcats pulled out four critical wins in singles play, including two in three sets to upset the 36th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center Saturday, 4-3.

The afternoon began as the two squads engaged in a furious battle for the coveted doubles point. Northwestern's No. 2 tandem of Raleigh Smith and Alex Pasareanu got their team on the scoreboard first when they registered an 8-4 win over Jack Hamburg and Phillip Arndt. The Golden Gophers were able to even the score at a win each when No. 22 Julian Dehn and Rok Bonin took the tilt at No. 1 singles against Josh Graves and Spencer Wolf, 8-4.

The point would be decided by the No. 3 match between NU's Tobias Reitz and his partner Sidarth Balaji and Minnesota's Leandro Toledo and Juan Pablo Ramirez. Reitz and Balaji raced out to a quick 2-0 lead, but the Gophers answered by winning six straight games of their own. The Wildcats staged a ferocious rally to win the next five games and grab a 7-6 lead. Eventually the Gophers would force a tiebreaker and they would use that momentum to roll to a 7-2 win in the breaker to clinch the doubles point and a 1-0 lead for their team.

Minnesota picked up the first singles win of the afternoon when Dehn defeated Balaji in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4. That made the overall score 2-0 in favor of the visiting Golden Gophers.

Northwestern quickly dug into the deficit with its first singles win of the day behind No. 2 player Spencer Wolf. Wolf, ranked 109th by the ITA, upended Minnesota's 80th-ranked Leandro Toldeo in two hard-fought sets, 7-5 and 6-4. In the first frame, Wolf came from behind to win and in the second he raced out to a 4-1 advantage and outlasted Toledo down the stretch to earn the point.

The 'Cats evened the ledger at two wins apiece when Smith polished off Arndt, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3. It was the team-high 13th win of the season for the NU sophomore. Smith has a spotless record of 4-0 in Big Ten play this season.

All three of the remaining singles matches needed thrilling third sets to decide the outcome. The No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches all went the distance. Graves (No. 1) and Chris Jackman (No. 6) each won their opening sets against the Gophers before dropping closely contested second frames. Pasareanu (No. 5) also won his first set and came close to putting Hamburg away, but the Gopher won the second set, 7-5 to force the final stanza.

Jackman came up with a critical triumph for the Wildcats, winning the third set 6-4 just moments before Graves fell to Bonin in the decider, 7-5. That meant that the affair would ultimately be decided by the third set between Pasareanu and Hamburg.

Pasareanu and Hamburg each claimed three of the first six games and Northwestern's lone freshman in the lineup won the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Pasareanu then broke Hamburg's serve to go up 5-3 to regain service and a chance to win the match. Hamburg responded by delivering a break of his own to climb back to within one at 5-4. The Gopher then held serve to knot the score at five games each.

Pasareanu broke Hamburg's serve again to win the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead. Pasareanu held serve one final time to win the set, the match and the match-clinching point for the Wildcats.

Northwestern will be back at home Sunday morning at 11 a.m. against Wisconsin. The first serve between the Wildcats and Badgers is set for 11 a.m. at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center.

Doubles
1. No. 22 Julian Dehn/Rok Bonin (MINN) def. Josh Graves/Spencer Wolf (NU) - 8-4
2. Alex Pasareanu/Raleigh Smith (NU) def. Phillip Arndt/Jack Hamburg (MINN) - 8-4
3. Leandro Toldeo/Juan Pablo Ramirez (MINN) def. Tobias Reitz/Sidarth Balaji (NU) - 9-8 (2)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3*

Singles
1. Rok Bonin (MINN) def. Josh Graves (NU) - 2-6, 6-1, 7-5
2. No. 109 Spencer Wolf (NU) def. No. 80 Leandro Toledo (MINN) - 7-5, 6-4
3. Raleigh Smith (NU) def. Phillip Arndt (MINN) - 6-3, 6-4
4. Julian Dehn (MINN) def. Sidarth Balaji (NU) - 6-4, 6-2
5. Alex Pasareanu (NU) def. Jack Hamburg (MINN) - 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
6. Chris Jackman (NU) def. Mathieu Froment (MINN) - 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 2, 3, 6, 1, 5*

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