Feb. 13, 2011

Complete Results

#70 Northwestern 5, #68 William and Mary 2
Site: Williamsburg, Va. (McCormack Nagelson Tennis Center)
Score: No. 70 Northwestern 5, No. 68 William & Mary 2
Records: NU (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten), William & Mary (7-5)
Next NU Event: Friday, Feb. 18 vs. Vanderbilt • Evanston, Ill. • 6 p.m.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Northwestern put an end to its brief two-match losing skid by rallying from down 2-1 to defeat 68th-ranked William & Mary, 5-2, Sunday in Virginia. Freshman Raleigh Smith came up with the clinching fourth point for NU by battling to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Ben Hoogland at No. 5 singles.

After Northwestern (5-2) won the doubles point for the sixth time in seven matches this season, William & Mary put the pressure on by picking up singles wins in the first two matches off the courts. But narrow victories by Chris Jackman and Joshua Graves at No. 6 and 1 singles, respectively, set up the opportunity for Smith to record the clincher.

"We played two tough teams this weekend and I think we're going to be better because of it," said NU head coach Arvid Swan. "Just like Friday at N.C. State this was a match that could have gone either way. We showed good poise after we got behind 2-1 and played good tennis."

NU's doubles victories at the No. 2 and 3 positions came in dominant fashion, beginning with an 8-2 win at the third spot by Jackman and Smith over Ben Guthrie and Daniel Mihalov. Senior Andrew McCarthy and junior Tobias Reitz followed suit with their 8-1 win over Anton Andersson and Ilja Orre.

Guthrie and Sebastien Vidal gave the home team a 2-1 lead with their wins before Jackman stepped up to tie the score by gutting out a 6-4, 7-5 win over Adrian Vodislav at the No. 6 spot.

The action was eerily similar at the No. 1 and No. 5 spots, with both Graves and Smith losing first sets by a score of 6-3 before taking their ensuing sets by that same count. But the Wildcats outlasted their Tribe opponents in their respective third sets to give Northwestern the win.

McCarthy allowed NU to complete its road swing on a winning note, topping Jamie Whiteford in three sets, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.

Swan and Northwestern return to Evanston to play four consecutive home duals beginning Friday night when NU hosts No. 44 Vanderbilt.

No. 70 Northwestern 5, No. 68 William & Mary 2
Singles
No. 1: Joshua Graves (NU) def. Anton Andersson (W&M), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 2: Ben Guthrie (W&M) def. Spencer Wolf (NU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 3: Andrew McCarthy (NU) def. Jamie Whiteford (W&M), 3-6, 7-6, 6-3
No. 4: Sebastien Vidal (W&M) def. Tobias Reltz (NU), 6-4, 6-1
No. 5: Raleigh Smith (NU) def. Ben Hoogland (W&M), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6: Chris Jackman (NU) def. Adrian Vodislav (W&M), 6-4, 7-5

Doubles No. 1 - Vidal/Whiteford (W&M) def. Graves/Wolf (NU), 8-7 (8)
No. 2 - McCarthy/Reitz (NU) def. Orre/Andersson (W&M), 8-1
No. 3 - Jackman/Smith (NU) def. Guthrie/Mihalov (W&M), 8-2

Order of Finish:
Singles (4, 2, 6, 1, 5*, 3)
Doubles (3, 2*, 1)

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!