Northwestern Bests No. 24 Tulsa, 4-2

1/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Jan. 25, 2014

Results

NORMAN, Okla. -- No. 31 Northwestern came out on top against No. 24 Tulsa, winning 4-2 at the ITA Indoor Qualifying Rounds on Saturday. The 'Cats are competing for a spot at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in mid-February.

The Wildcats took the doubles point to jump ahead 1-0. Freshman Alp Horoz and sophomore Fedor Baev made quick work of their opponents Japie De Klerk and Alejandro Espejo at No.2, with a 6-1 win.

No. 1 and No. 3 had more even matches, but senior Raleigh Smith and freshman Strong Kirchheimer ultimately won at No. 3, defeating Carlos Bautista and Daniel Santos 6-4 to clinch the point for NU. Sophomore Mihir Kumar and freshman Sam Shropshire left their match at No. 1 unfinished 5-5 against Clifford Marsland and Dylan McCloskey.

In singles play, Kirchheimer burst out of the gate at No. 5 to notch an early victory over Juan Carvajal 6-0, 6-1, extending the NU lead to 2-0. However, Tulsa rallied back to tie it 2-2 in two close matches, as freshman Konrad Zieba fell 6-4, 6-4 to Marsland at No.2, and Smith fell to De Klerk 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1.

With the score knotted up, the remaining singles matches pushed to three sets. Baev restored the Wildcat advantage at No. 6, coming back after dropping the first set to win 5-6, 6-2, 6-3 over McCloskey. Both Shropshire at No. 3 and Kumar at No. 4 went down to the wire with tiebreakers in the third set. In the end, Kumar bested Espejo 6-4, 2-6, 6-5 to clinch the Northwestern victory. Shropshire left his match against Bautista unfinished 5-6, 6-2, 5-5.

Northwestern will face No. 9 Oklahoma at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Sooners defeated No. 37 Virginia Tech 4-1 Saturday afternoon.

For more information on the tournament, visit the ITA website.

#31 Northwestern 4, #24 Tulsa 2
Doubles Results
1. Mihir Kumar / Sam Shropshire (NU) vs. Clifford Marsland / Dylan McCloskey (TU) 5-5 (unfinished)
2. Alp Horoz / Fedor Baev (NU) def. Jaspie De Klerk / Alejandro Espejo (TU) 6-1
3. Raleigh Smith / Strong Kirchheimer (NU) def. Carlos Bautista / Daniel Santos (TU) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3*

Singles Results
1. Japie De Klerk (TU) def. Raleigh Smith (NU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Clifford Marsland (TU) def. Konrad Zieba (NU) 6-4, 6-4
3. #114 Sam Shropshire (NU) vs. #71 Carlos Bautista 5-6, 6-2, 5-5 (unfinished)
4. Mihir Kumar (NU) def Alejandro Espejo (TU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-5
5. Strong Kirchheimer (NU) def. Juan Carvajal (TU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Fedor Baev (NU) def Dylan McCloskey (TU) 5-6, 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 6, 4*

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