Saturday, March 12
Evanston, Ill.
12 p.m.
Northwestern
4
vs
3
Illinois
No. 11 Northwestern Gets Milestone Win Over No. 8 Illinois
3/12/2016 4:16:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Box Score | Match Point
EVANSTON, Ill. – Beat Illinois? Check. Beat a top-10 team? Check. Best start in program history? Check.
Northwestern reached a number of milestones in its 4-3 victory over No. 8 Illinois Saturday afternoon in front of a huge crowd at the Combe Tennis Center.
The 11th-ranked Wildcats beat their in-state rivals for the first time since 1997, ending a 27-match losing streak. They beat a top-10 team for the first time since the ITA began archiving rankings in 1981.
And, at 13-1, they are off to the best start in program history, surpassing the 1988-89 team, which began that year 12-1.
"We are trying to build a program here," head coach Arvid Swan said. "Our guys are buying in, and we are trying to break streaks. That was certainly a goal – to beat Illinois."
Northwestern scored a big first point with wins in doubles at Nos. 2 and 3. Mihir Kumar and Alp Horoz led for the entirety of their match, winning 6-3, before Konrad Zieba and Sam Shropshire teamed up to win 6-4 at No. 2.
Horoz then got right to work in singles, dominating Brian Page at No. 6 to put the Wildcats up 2-0. The Northwestern junior cruised from start to finish, winning 6-2, 6-1 to improve to 7-3 in dual play this year.
Fedor Baev fell in a tough third set to Julian Childers at No. 4 and then No. 95 Strong Kirchheimer came up just short at No. 3 in his three-set match against No. 63 Aron Hiltzik.
With the match tied at two, No. 83 Sam Shropshire came back from a one set deficit to grind out a three-set 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory against eighth-ranked Jared Hiltzik to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead. Shropshire improved to 11-6 on the year with the win.
No. 11 Konrad Zieba traded sets with No. 6 Aleks Vukic at No. 1 before dropping the third set 6-2. The win allowed Illinois to tie up the contest at three with the final point coming down to No. 5 singles.
Freshman Ben Vandixhorn was up to the task. After dropping the first set against Asher Hirsch, he stormed back for a resounding 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory that included a dramatic second set tiebreak.
Vandixhorn's 13th win of the year was greeted with raucous celebration at the Combe Tennis Center as the Wildcats claimed a marquee win in the Big Ten opener.
"We knew we had to bring our A-game today, and we did," Swan said. "I am really proud of the team."
Northwestern has a quick turnaround, playing host to Detroit tonight at 6:30 inside the Combe Tennis Center.
#11 Northwestern 4, #8 Illinois 3
Singles
No. 1 – #6 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def . #11 Konrad Zieba (NU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
No. 2 – #83 Sam Shropshire (NU) def. #8 Jared Hiltzik (ILL), 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 – #63 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) def. #95 Strong Kirchheimer (NU), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
No. 4 – Julian Childers (ILL) def. Fedor Baev (NU), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
No. 5 – Ben Vandixhorn (NU) def. Asher Hirsch, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2*
No. 6 – Alp Horoz (NU) def. Brian Page (ILL), 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, 5*
Doubles
No. 1 – Hiltzik/Jesse (ILL) def. Baev/Kirchheimer (NU), 6-3
No. 2 – Zieba/Shropshire (NU) def. Hiltzik/Vukic (ILL), 6-4*
No. 3 – Horoz/Kumar (NU) def. Childers/Jiang (ILL), 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*
EVANSTON, Ill. – Beat Illinois? Check. Beat a top-10 team? Check. Best start in program history? Check.
Northwestern reached a number of milestones in its 4-3 victory over No. 8 Illinois Saturday afternoon in front of a huge crowd at the Combe Tennis Center.
The 11th-ranked Wildcats beat their in-state rivals for the first time since 1997, ending a 27-match losing streak. They beat a top-10 team for the first time since the ITA began archiving rankings in 1981.
And, at 13-1, they are off to the best start in program history, surpassing the 1988-89 team, which began that year 12-1.
"We are trying to build a program here," head coach Arvid Swan said. "Our guys are buying in, and we are trying to break streaks. That was certainly a goal – to beat Illinois."
Northwestern scored a big first point with wins in doubles at Nos. 2 and 3. Mihir Kumar and Alp Horoz led for the entirety of their match, winning 6-3, before Konrad Zieba and Sam Shropshire teamed up to win 6-4 at No. 2.
Horoz then got right to work in singles, dominating Brian Page at No. 6 to put the Wildcats up 2-0. The Northwestern junior cruised from start to finish, winning 6-2, 6-1 to improve to 7-3 in dual play this year.
Fedor Baev fell in a tough third set to Julian Childers at No. 4 and then No. 95 Strong Kirchheimer came up just short at No. 3 in his three-set match against No. 63 Aron Hiltzik.
With the match tied at two, No. 83 Sam Shropshire came back from a one set deficit to grind out a three-set 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory against eighth-ranked Jared Hiltzik to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead. Shropshire improved to 11-6 on the year with the win.
No. 11 Konrad Zieba traded sets with No. 6 Aleks Vukic at No. 1 before dropping the third set 6-2. The win allowed Illinois to tie up the contest at three with the final point coming down to No. 5 singles.
Freshman Ben Vandixhorn was up to the task. After dropping the first set against Asher Hirsch, he stormed back for a resounding 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory that included a dramatic second set tiebreak.
Vandixhorn's 13th win of the year was greeted with raucous celebration at the Combe Tennis Center as the Wildcats claimed a marquee win in the Big Ten opener.
"We knew we had to bring our A-game today, and we did," Swan said. "I am really proud of the team."
Northwestern has a quick turnaround, playing host to Detroit tonight at 6:30 inside the Combe Tennis Center.
#11 Northwestern 4, #8 Illinois 3
Singles
No. 1 – #6 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def . #11 Konrad Zieba (NU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
No. 2 – #83 Sam Shropshire (NU) def. #8 Jared Hiltzik (ILL), 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 – #63 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) def. #95 Strong Kirchheimer (NU), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
No. 4 – Julian Childers (ILL) def. Fedor Baev (NU), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
No. 5 – Ben Vandixhorn (NU) def. Asher Hirsch, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2*
No. 6 – Alp Horoz (NU) def. Brian Page (ILL), 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, 5*
Doubles
No. 1 – Hiltzik/Jesse (ILL) def. Baev/Kirchheimer (NU), 6-3
No. 2 – Zieba/Shropshire (NU) def. Hiltzik/Vukic (ILL), 6-4*
No. 3 – Horoz/Kumar (NU) def. Childers/Jiang (ILL), 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*
••••••
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