For the second night in a row, Northwestern’s Willy Lock found himself struggling to win a match that should have already been his.
His opponent, Oregon’s Arron Spencer, fought off four match points to force a third-set tiebreak Saturday night. Spencer led the tiebreak 5-1 before the momentum shifted Lock’s way. On Friday Lock had match points on Notre Dame’s Sheeva Parbhu but could not close him out.
“I didn’t want to lose two times that close,” Lock said.
Lock rattled off five straight points against Spencer, the last coming on a running forehand winner that sent him sprawling into a courtside chair.
“I didn’t think about what was in my way,” he said. “It was a really important point and, after I hit it, I didn’t even know the chair was there.”
He managed to hold off Spencer in the tiebreak, 8-6.
Lock’s turnaround was a symbol for Saturday’s match, as the Wildcats bounced back after a 5-2 loss at No. 23 Notre Dame (9-2) to beat Oregon (7-4), 6-1, at home.
“Friday night’s match was a very tough one,” coach Paul Torricelli said. “To come back the next night and play that way was a real tribute to the team.”
The Cats swept doubles and won five of six singles matches Saturday. The Ducks’ only point came in No. 16 Sven Swinnen’s straight-set victory over Tommy Hanus.
Hanus was treated for an injury to his right arm during the match and was wincing throughout.
“He’s historically had arm problems,” coach Paul Torricelli said. “We just have to manage it.”
Although Hanus provided the Cats’ only singles loss on Saturday, he scored their only singles point against Notre Dame on Friday. That match marked the first time this year NU won the doubles point but lost the match.
“Notre Dame was better,” Torricelli said. “They just outperformed us.”
NU senior Chuck Perrin also reversed his fortunes Saturday, ending his six-match losing streak in singles with a win over Oregon’s Thomas Bieri.
After breaking Bieri early, Perrin played two hard service games near the end of the first set, significantly lengthening the match.
“I kind of lost a little momentum,” he said. “At that point I was just kind of hanging in there.”
Perrin finished his victory in two sets shortly before the conclusion of Lock’s third-set tiebreak and said the strained abdominal muscle that has been bothering him had little effect on his play.
“I felt it, but I was going off adrenaline for a little while,” Perrin said. “It hurt like hell after the match.”
Hanus and Adam Schaechterle extended their doubles winning streak to four matches and improved their mark on the season to 8-2.
“We feel like we’re a No. 1 team playing at No. 2,” Schaechterle said. “We have three good doubles teams that could play at any position.”
Schaechterle also provided the deciding point in the Cats’ win with his singles victory over Vladimir Pino.
After winning the first set in a tiebreak, Schaechterle broke Pino in the fifth game of the second set and held serve for the rest of the match.
“I really like being the guy who decides it,” he said. “I just wanted to get into my service games. I felt like he couldn’t touch my serves.”
Reach David Morrison at [email protected].
