Sunday, May 15
Evanston, Ill.
1 p.m.
Northwestern
3
vs
4
Stanford
Record-Breaking Season Comes to an End in Regional Final
5/15/2016 5:22:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Box Score | Season Stats
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern's record-breaking season came to an end in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 loss to No. 29 Stanford.
Chicago's Big Ten Team finishes the 2016 season with a 26-5 record, the most wins in program history.
"We had a great year," head coach Arvid Swan said. "We will let this one sting a little, but we are going to be back next year ready to go."
The 14th-ranked Wildcats struck first with the doubles point. Konrad Zieba and Sam Shropshire have been rolling of late, and they kept it up with a 6-2 win at No. 2. Stanford won at No. 3, but Fedor Baev and Strong Kirchheimer won a thriller at No. 1, 7-5, to put Northwestern on the board.
The Cardinal answered right away in singles taking matches at No. 4 and No. 5 in straight sets to capture the lead.
Strong Kirchheimer tied things up with his 30th win of the season. At 30-3, he has had one of the best individual seasons in Northwestern history. Kirchheimer sits just one win away from breaking into the program's career top-10 wins list.
He heads to the NCAA singles tournament on a 14-match winning streak.
Sam Shropshire then put the Wildcats up 3-2 with a straight set win at No. 2 to reach the 20-win mark on the year.
Stanford was able to win the remaining matches at No. 6 and then at No. 1 to earn a trip to the Round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla.
Northwestern says goodbye to two seniors who have overseen the rise of the program in Fedor Baev and Mihir Kumar. But with five returning singles starters, including all three First-Team All-Big Ten selections, the future looks as bright as ever for the Wildcats.
"Great group of guys," Swan said. "I feel real excited for what the future holds for our program."
The season is not over yet as Zieba, Shropshire and Kirchheimer all make their way to Tulsa for the NCAA Singles Tournament, which begins May 25.
#29 Stanford 4, #14 Northwestern 3
Singles
No. 1 – #15 Tom Fawcett (STAN) def. #20 Konrad Zieba (NU), 5-7, 6-0, 6-4*
No. 2 – #40 Sam Shropshire (NU) def. Michael Genender (STAN), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – #57 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) def. #87 David Wilczynski (STAN), 6-0, 6-4
No. 4 – Nolan Paige (STAN) def. Fedor Baev (NU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 – Sameer Kumar (STAN) def. Ben Vandixhorn (NU), 6-1, 7-5
No. 6 – Maciek Romanowicz (STAN) def. Alp Horoz (NU), 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 2, 6, 1*
Doubles
No. 1 – Baev/Kirchheimer (NU) def. #23 Fawcett/Romanowicz (STAN), 7-5*
No. 2 – Zieba/Shropshire (NU) def. Wilczynski/Paige (STAN), 6-2
No. 3 – Kumar/Goldberg (STAN) def. Horoz/Kumar (NU), 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern's record-breaking season came to an end in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 loss to No. 29 Stanford.
Chicago's Big Ten Team finishes the 2016 season with a 26-5 record, the most wins in program history.
"We had a great year," head coach Arvid Swan said. "We will let this one sting a little, but we are going to be back next year ready to go."
The 14th-ranked Wildcats struck first with the doubles point. Konrad Zieba and Sam Shropshire have been rolling of late, and they kept it up with a 6-2 win at No. 2. Stanford won at No. 3, but Fedor Baev and Strong Kirchheimer won a thriller at No. 1, 7-5, to put Northwestern on the board.
The Cardinal answered right away in singles taking matches at No. 4 and No. 5 in straight sets to capture the lead.
Strong Kirchheimer tied things up with his 30th win of the season. At 30-3, he has had one of the best individual seasons in Northwestern history. Kirchheimer sits just one win away from breaking into the program's career top-10 wins list.
He heads to the NCAA singles tournament on a 14-match winning streak.
Sam Shropshire then put the Wildcats up 3-2 with a straight set win at No. 2 to reach the 20-win mark on the year.
Stanford was able to win the remaining matches at No. 6 and then at No. 1 to earn a trip to the Round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla.
Northwestern says goodbye to two seniors who have overseen the rise of the program in Fedor Baev and Mihir Kumar. But with five returning singles starters, including all three First-Team All-Big Ten selections, the future looks as bright as ever for the Wildcats.
"Great group of guys," Swan said. "I feel real excited for what the future holds for our program."
The season is not over yet as Zieba, Shropshire and Kirchheimer all make their way to Tulsa for the NCAA Singles Tournament, which begins May 25.
#29 Stanford 4, #14 Northwestern 3
Singles
No. 1 – #15 Tom Fawcett (STAN) def. #20 Konrad Zieba (NU), 5-7, 6-0, 6-4*
No. 2 – #40 Sam Shropshire (NU) def. Michael Genender (STAN), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – #57 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) def. #87 David Wilczynski (STAN), 6-0, 6-4
No. 4 – Nolan Paige (STAN) def. Fedor Baev (NU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 – Sameer Kumar (STAN) def. Ben Vandixhorn (NU), 6-1, 7-5
No. 6 – Maciek Romanowicz (STAN) def. Alp Horoz (NU), 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 2, 6, 1*
Doubles
No. 1 – Baev/Kirchheimer (NU) def. #23 Fawcett/Romanowicz (STAN), 7-5*
No. 2 – Zieba/Shropshire (NU) def. Wilczynski/Paige (STAN), 6-2
No. 3 – Kumar/Goldberg (STAN) def. Horoz/Kumar (NU), 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*
••••••
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