Friday, March 21
Evanston, Ill.
6 p.m. CT
Northwestern
1
vs
4
USC
Photo by: Michelle Nartey/Northwestern Athletics
'Cats Drop Weekend Matches to No. 26 USC, No. 41 UCLA
3/23/2025 6:14:00 PM | Men's Tennis
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern men's tennis (10-10, 3-3 Big Ten) dropped a pair of matches to ranked conference foes USC and UCLA this weekend at Combe Tennis Center. The 'Cats fell 4-1 to the No. 26 Trojans on Friday evening, then dropped a 4-0 match to the No. 41 Bruins on Sunday afternoon.
USC (9-5, 3-1 Big Ten) began the weekend's action by taking the doubles point, winning the No. 1 and No. 3 courts to do so. At the No. 2 spot, Northwestern's Vincent Yang and Max Bengtsson came away victorious, taking a 6-3 win before the point was clinched.
In singles action, Bengtsson was the first to finish. He momentarily evened the team score at one-all with a win at No. 4 singles, defeating Matteo Morazzi 6-4, 6-3 for the win. However, the tie was short-lived, as the Trojans picked up the rest of the lower courts to capture match point.
Though his match at No. 1 singles went unfinished, Saiprakash Goli was keeping pace with the No. 30 singles player in the ITA's rankings, Peter Makk. After dropping a tiebreak game to narrowly lose the first set 7-6 (7-4), Goli was knotted up at three-all in his second set against Makk when the match was abandoned.
On Sunday, UCLA (6-6, 4-0 Big Ten) also came out on top of the battle for the doubles point. After the teams split the lower two courts, the Bruins battled back to a 7-5 victory at No. 1 doubles to clinch the point. Chad Miller and Felix Nordby accounted for the 'Cats' win, taking a 7-4 tiebreak set to improve their dual season record to 5-2 as a pairing.
From there, UCLA picked up three singles victories in straight sets to cruise to victory. Like he did on Friday, Goli once again kept pace with one of the nation's top players in a match that would go unfinished; he took a 7-5 first set off No. 29 Rudy Quan, and was tied at three-all when his match was abandoned.
Northwestern men's tennis will return to action at home next Saturday, when the 'Cats are set to host a doubleheader against Illinois and Youngstown State. The match against the Illini will begin at noon CT, while the evening action is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CT.
USC (9-5, 3-1 Big Ten) began the weekend's action by taking the doubles point, winning the No. 1 and No. 3 courts to do so. At the No. 2 spot, Northwestern's Vincent Yang and Max Bengtsson came away victorious, taking a 6-3 win before the point was clinched.
In singles action, Bengtsson was the first to finish. He momentarily evened the team score at one-all with a win at No. 4 singles, defeating Matteo Morazzi 6-4, 6-3 for the win. However, the tie was short-lived, as the Trojans picked up the rest of the lower courts to capture match point.
Though his match at No. 1 singles went unfinished, Saiprakash Goli was keeping pace with the No. 30 singles player in the ITA's rankings, Peter Makk. After dropping a tiebreak game to narrowly lose the first set 7-6 (7-4), Goli was knotted up at three-all in his second set against Makk when the match was abandoned.
On Sunday, UCLA (6-6, 4-0 Big Ten) also came out on top of the battle for the doubles point. After the teams split the lower two courts, the Bruins battled back to a 7-5 victory at No. 1 doubles to clinch the point. Chad Miller and Felix Nordby accounted for the 'Cats' win, taking a 7-4 tiebreak set to improve their dual season record to 5-2 as a pairing.
From there, UCLA picked up three singles victories in straight sets to cruise to victory. Like he did on Friday, Goli once again kept pace with one of the nation's top players in a match that would go unfinished; he took a 7-5 first set off No. 29 Rudy Quan, and was tied at three-all when his match was abandoned.
Northwestern men's tennis will return to action at home next Saturday, when the 'Cats are set to host a doubleheader against Illinois and Youngstown State. The match against the Illini will begin at noon CT, while the evening action is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CT.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
123
Makk, Peter / 0 (30/-) [657]
730
63UF
#2 Singles Match
1234
Trouve, Nathan / 0 (108/-) [657]
2740
651UF
#3 Singles Match
123
Iakubenko, Volodymyr / 0 [657]
646
361
#4 Singles Match
12
Morazzi, Matteo / 0 [657]
43
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Lee, Karl / 0 [657]
77
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Church, Connor / 0 [657]
66
33
Order of Finish:
4,6,3,5
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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