'Cats Cruise Past Wisconsin, 6-1

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

April 1, 2012

Results

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Vandy Christie Tennis Center)
Score: No. 53 Northwestern 6, Wisconsin 1
Records: NU (11-6, 4-1 Big Ten), Wisconsin (8-9, 0-5 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Friday, April 6 -- vs. Michigan State (Vandy Christie Tennis Center), 1:30 p.m.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 53 Northwestern extended its current Big Ten winning streak to a season-high four matches Sunday with a 6-1 over the visiting Wisconsin Badgers on a cool and cloudy day at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center.

With the win, Nortwestern improves to 4-1 in Big Ten play this season with its only loss coming on March 9 against No. 20 Illinois. The Wildcats are one victory shy of tying their best winning streak of the 2012 campaign when they won five in a row to open the season.

Sunday the teams split the doubles matches at Nos. 1 and 2, so the team point would come down to the No. 3 match. Wisconsin claimed victory at No. 2, where Fredrik Ask and Rod Carey doubled-up Northwestern's Raleigh Smith and Alex Pasareanu, 8-4.

Josh Graves and Spencer Wolf evened the ledger with a win in No. 1 doubles against UW's Petr Satral and Alexander Kostanov. The Wildcats won the match, 8-5, to earn their eighth victory as a tandem this season and their second in Big Ten play.

The doubles point would be dealt based upon the winner of the No. 3 match between NU's Tobias Reitz and Sidarth Balaji and Alex Robles and Billy Bertha of the Badgers. The set was back-and-forth to the point that a tiebreaker was needed to ultimately settle the score. Northwestern outlasted Wisconsin, 9-7 in the breaker to win the match and secure the doubles point for the 'Cats.

The home team picked up two quick singles wins to pad its cushion to three. NU's Chris Jackman was the first player to finish when he downed UW's Andy Quirk at No. 6 singles in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. Balaji was triumphant over Kostanov in two frames as well, 6-1, 6-4. Jackman improved to 4-1 in league play, while Balaji picked up his second Big Ten win of the season.

Satral earned Wisconsin's first, and subsequently only, point of the afternoon when he beat the red-hot Raleigh Smith of Northwestern, 6-0, 6-4. Smith trailed 3-0 in the second set before rallying to win four straight games to grab the lead. Satral would go on to claim the next three games, however, to win the match.

The final three matches all engaged in decisive third sets to settle the score. The 109th-ranked Wolf, playing No. 2, and UW's Rod Carey engaged in a terrific battle all afternoon. Wolf won the first set, 6-4, before Carey clawed back to win a tough second stanza, 7-5. The Northwestern junior dug deep and disposed of his opponent, 6-4, in the third set to win the match and clinch the fourth point of the day for Northwestern. Wolf won both of his singles matches this weekend and is now 12-5 overall this spring and 4-1 in Big Ten play.

Pasareanu capped a memorable weekend of singles play with another win at the fifth position. After clinching the match against Minnesota on Saturday, the freshman delivered a three-set win for his team against Wisconsin's Quinton Vega Sunday. Pasareanu claimed the first set, 7-5, and Vega won the second in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (6). With the overall outcome of the match already determined, the players engaged in a superbreaker, which was won by Pasareanu, 10-8.

Finally, Graves battled Ask in a notable matchup on the top line. The Wildcat won the closely contested first set, 7-6 (4), but stumbled in the second, losing, 6-4. In the third set, which was played out to its entirety because it began before Wolf concluded his match, Graves cruised to a 6-2 win.

The Wildcats will continue a four-match homestand on Friday afternoon, April 6, when the Michigan State Spartans come to town. First serve at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center is set for 1:30 p.m. Northwestern will conclude its stretch of four in a row at home on Sunday, April 8 against the Michigan Wolverines.

Doubles
1. Josh Graves/Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Peter Satral/Alexander Kostanov (Wis.) - 8-5
2. Fredrik Ask/Rod Carey (Wis.) def. Alex Pasareanu/Raleigh Smith (NU) - 8-4
3. Tobias Reitz/Sidarth Balaji (NU) vs. Billy Bertha/Alex Robles (Wis.) - 9-8 (7)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3*

Singles
1. Josh Graves (NU) def. Fredrik Ask (Wis.) - 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2
2. Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Rod Carey (Wis.) - 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
3. Petr Satral (Wis.) def. Raleigh Smith (NU) - 6-0, 6-4
4. Sidarth Balaji (NU) def. Alexander Kostanov (Wis.) - 6-1, 6-4
5. Alex Pasareanu (NU) def. Quinton Vega (Wis.) - 7-5, 6-7(6), 1-0 (8)
6. Chris Jackman (NU) def. Andy Quirk (Wis.) - 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 4, 3, 2*, 5, 1

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