Unfortunately for the Northwestern men’s tennis team, there were no surprises in the Great Northwest Shootout this weekend. The national rankings served as a perfect guide throughout the Seattle tournament, translating into a 1-2 mark on the trip for the No. 49 Wildcats.
“Overall, I guess the weekend was a little disappointing,” NU senior captain Jamie Sahara said.
The Cats failed to beat a top-25 team, which has been one of their goals.
In both of NU’s opportunities, it suffered disheartening defeats, against No. 24 Indiana State on Friday and No. 23 Washington on Sunday.
The losses were separated by an NU victory over No. 55 Louisville. Despite the limited success, the Cats left Seattle unfulfilled.
“We came up short with our goal against the top-25 teams,” coach Paul Torricelli said. “In that respect, it was not a successful weekend at all.”
The Cats started well against Indiana State, taking the opening point with a revamped doubles lineup.
NU’s lead was short-lived, as the Sycamores won four singles matches to claim the contest with a 4-3 victory.
“We thought we had them,” Sahara said. “It seemed like the match just slipped away from us.”
The Cats at least were able to draw positives from the performances of junior Josh Axler and freshman Tommy Hanus. Axler posted a quick 6-4, 6-3 win at the No. 5 singles slot, and Hanus took a giant step by winning his first match against a ranked opponent.
Hanus, in the No. 2 singles spot, faced off against No. 56 Vedran Vidovic and pulled out a dramatic 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
“Tommy showed a lot of poise,” Torricelli said. “He’s got great competitiveness, and he just wouldn’t let himself lose that match.”
The Cats found themselves in the role of favorite Saturday for the only time over the weekend, but Louisville put up the first three points of the contest.
After the Cats lost the doubles point, senior Ryan Edlefsen and junior Jackie Jenkins fell at the No. 1 and No. 4 singles spots, leaving NU with the prospect of being beaten by a lower-ranked opponent for the first time this season.
However, the Cats strayed from that sad path and began a spectacular rally. Sahara and Hanus both posted straight-set victories, providing NU with a bit of hope.
“Jamie and Tommy kept us in the match,” Torricelli said. “They won and turned the momentum of the match around.”
The win for Hanus extended his career-opening win-streak to eight in dual-match play.
Axler and freshman Chuck Perrin added a couple of three-set victories to the effort, and the Cats avoided suffering their first back-to-back losses of the year.
NU was simply outplayed by Washington in its Sunday afternoon contest and was able to post only one point, a win from Sahara at the No. 3 singles position. Hanus lost to No. 54 Alex Vlaski to fall to 8-1 on the year.
Following NU’s 6-1 loss, the Huskies (9-0) had the Cats singing their praises.
“We really just lost to a superior team,” Torricelli said.
Even though NU saw its record slip to 6-3 by weekend’s end, the Cats said the trip had a positive effect on their play overall.
The improvement may be much more important than the lower record in the long run, as NU resumes Big Ten play next weekend against Michigan and Michigan State.
“We had three tough matches in a row,” Torricelli said. “I think that will help us for this weekend.
“Our level of play was high, so our expectations are high. We’ll put Seattle behind us, go to Michigan and win two matches.”
