In two important road matches before Thursday’s start to the Big Ten championships, the less-experienced players on the Northwestern men’s tennis team came up big this weekend.

The Wildcats (10-10, 4-6 Big Ten) drove away with two 4-3 team victories on a road trip to Wisconsin and Iowa — due greatly to the play of three first-year players.

Freshmen Josh Axler, Russell Bennett and Jackie Jenkins went a combined 5-1 in singles matches to propel the team to the victories.

In a season where NU’s more experienced players — junior Brad Erickson and sophomores Joost Hol and Jamie Sahara — often carried the Cats, the freshmen said it was their time to shine.

“(Sunday) was the first time the freshmen have come together,” Axler said. “The older guys have done it time and time again. We payed them back today. We showed lots of heart. There was a lot of growing up for us.”

Both contests this weekend came down to the last singles match.

The Cats lost the doubles point Saturday against the Badgers and had three singles victories as Jenkins remained on the court. After losing the first set in a hard-fought tiebreak, his opponent let down and the freshman came back to win the next two sets 6-1, 6-4.

However, Jenkins was unaware of his match’s importance, not realizing the overall match was tied at three. When his teammates rushed him after the win, he knew what the victory meant.

“It was a great feeling,” Jenkins said. “I have lost a lot of matches recently. It was good to end the streak.”

Coach Paul Torricelli said he was pleased with the tough road victory and especially with the play of Jenkins, who broke out of a spring slump.

“(Jackie) came through in a pressure situation today, ” Torricelli said. “It was a breakthrough for him and a boost of confidence for a young team.”

On Sunday, the Cats grabbed the doubles point against Iowa, but lost three of five singles matches to the Hawkeyes.

Once again, the spotlight was on an NU freshman, and this time, Bennett was the man of the hour.

Like Jenkins the day before, Bennett lost the first set and came back to win in three sets 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I just kept the ball in play,” Bennett said. “I kept moving really well and dug down and fought hard for the win.”

Cold, windy and, at times, rainy weather in Iowa City, Iowa, made the matches difficult to play, Bennett said.

Bennett said while joking after the match, Axler came up with the day’s motto: “The freshmen weathered the storm.”

In singles, Hol lost a three-set match at No. 1 to Iowa’s Tyler Cleveland, who extended his 10-game Big Ten singles winning streak. And Erickson lost his match 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.

The freshmen, however, took all three of their singles matches to go along with the doubles point for the team win.

Though Hol and Erickson were not pleased with their respective performances Sunday, the freshmen cheered up the players on the drive home, Axler said.

“We were glad to get out of Iowa,” Bennett said. “We were happy to finish off the last part of the Big Ten season.”

With the road trip over and the regular season behind them, the Cats can finally relax. For a few days.

NU is the No. 7 seed and will again face No. 10 Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday in Bloomington, Ind.

Torricelli said he will give his team a break for most of the week to let players recuperate before the match.

Bennett said he expects the team to come ready to play by match-time.

“We were psyched up today, ” Bennett said. “I think we’ll come out more fired up (on Thursday). We should physically be a lot stronger.”