Feb. 8, 1998

No. 21 Northwestern Falls to No. 15 Illinois, 4-3

'Cats Lose Despite Having Early Lead

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Northwestern men's tennis team, ranked No. 21 nationally, fell to No. 15 Illinois, 4-3, at the Atkins Tennis Center today.

The 'Cats jumped out to a 3-2 advantage by winning three of the first four singles matches in straight sets. NU junior Marc Silva (No. 2), senior Ry Tarpley (No. 4) and freshman Derrick Nguyen (No. 6) each picked up a singles win for the 'Cats.

The Illini earned the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches. NU's Alex Witt and Martin Bengtsson, ranked No. 31 nationally, notched the only doubles victory by downing Gavin Sontag and Brady Blain, 8-6.

The 'Cats now have a 3-1 record on the season and travel to Atlanta, Ga., to take on Alabama (Feb. 14) and Georgia Tech (Feb. 15) this week.

SINGLES RESULTS
#73 Oliver Freelove (UI) def. #17 Alex Witt     6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5
#48 Marc Silva (NU) def. Cary Franklin (UI)     6-2, 6-3
#62 Gavin Sontag (UI) def. Doug Bohaboy (NU)    6-3, 6-2
Ry Tarpley (NU) def. Jakub Teply (UI)           6-2, 6-1
Jeff Laski (UI) def. Martin Bengtsson (NU)      6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Derrick Nguyen (NU) def. Brady Blain (UI)       6-2, 6-2
DOUBLES RESULTS
Witt/Bengtsson (NU) def. Sontag/Blain (UI)      8-6
Laski/Freelove (UI) def. Silva/Bohaboy (NU)     8-6
Synder/Teply (UI) def. Tarpley/Nguyen (NU)      8-6