March 25, 2011

Complete Results

Site: Minneapolis, Minn. (Baseline Tennis Center)
Score: No. 22 Minnesota 6, No. 70 Northwestern 1
Records: NU (9-6, 0-1 Big Ten), Minnesota (10-2, 2-0 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, March 27 at Wisconsin • Madison, Wis. • Noon

MINNEAPOLIS -- After Northwestern was nipped in doubles following an epic 9-8 (16-14) outcome in the No. 1 match, No. 22 Minnesota carried that momentum into singles and eventually posted a 6-1 victory over the 'Cats in NU's Big Ten opener Friday night.

NU claimed a win in the first match off the courts as sophomore Chris Jackman and freshman Raleigh Smith handled Minnesota's Brendan Ruddock and Julian Dehn in an 8-5 victory at No. 3 doubles, the seventh win in 10 tries for the NU tandem this season.

Minnesota's Tobias Wernet and Rok Bonin answered by winning 9-7 at No. 2 over Northwestern's Andrew McCarthy and Tobias Reitz, leaving the doubles point to be decided by the No. 1 line. Joshua Graves and Spencer Wolf and the Gophers' Sebastian Gallego and Phillip Arndt entered a tiebreaker tied at eight apiece, which is where things got interesting.

The breaker required 30 points to decide a winner and stretched the match to almost two hours in length, with Gallego and Arndt finally winning back-to-back points to win 16-14 and hand NU only its fourth loss of the doubles point in 16 duals this season.

Minnesota proved equally tough in singles, winning each of the first five matches off the courts in straight sets to put away the dual win. At No. 3, senior Spencer Wolf recovered after falling in the first set 6-3 to Minnesota's Sebastian Gallego, coming from behind in the second to tie the score at five. The set eventually went to a tiebreaker, where Gallego pulled away late to win it 7-4 and close out the match.

Northwestern's lone singles victory came at the No. 1 spot where Graves, now ranked No. 114 in the Campbell's/ITA College Tennis poll, staved off the Gophers' Tobias Wernet down the stretch to hold on for a 6-4, 7-5 win, his eighth of the 2011 dual season.

Northwestern's first Big Ten road trip of the season continues Sunday with a test at Wisconsin. Start time is set for noon CT.

No. 22 Minnesota 6, No. 70 Northwestern 1
Singles:
1: #114 Joshua Graves (NU) def. Tobias Wernet (MINN), 6-4, 7-5
2: Rok Bonin (MINN) def. Sidarth Balaji (NU), 6-1, 6-3
3: Sebastian Gallego (MINN) def. Spencer Wolf (NU), 6-3, 5-4
4: Phillip Arndt (MINN) def. Andrew McCarthy (NU), 6-1, 6-2
5: Brendan Ruddock (MINN) def. Raleigh Smith (NU), 6-3, 6-2
6: Julian Dehn (MINN) def. Chris Jackman (NU), 6-3, 6-2

Doubles:
1: Gallego/Arndt (MINN) def. Graves/Wolf (NU), 9-8 (16-14)
2: Wernet/Bonin (MINN) def. McCarthy/Reitz (NU), 9-7
3: Jackman/Smith (NU) def. Ruddock/Dehn (MINN), 8-5

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

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