Northwestern waited three years for a trip to the NCAA tournament, but just as in its last tournament appearance in 2002, the Wildcats were shut out and sent home early.
The Cats (12-13, 6-4 Big Ten) dropped their opening round match against No. 27 Clemson (25-10) 4-0 on Saturday in Athens, Ga.
However, the match was anything but a lopsided blowout.
“The match was very close, but in the end we were beaten and outplayed by a good team,” NU coach Paul Torricelli said.
NU sophomore Willy Lock and senior Justin Hoeveler swiftly captured the No. 3 doubles match, defeating Clemson sophomores Brett Twente and Ian Keeler, 8-1.
Seniors Tommy Hanus and Chuck Perrin dropped the No. 1 doubles match 8-4 to the nation’s 50th–ranked doubles team of junior Nathan Thompson and sophomore Ryan Young.
The fate of the doubles point was left hanging on the shoulders of junior Adam Schaechterle and sophomore Christian Tempke at the No. 2 doubles spot.
With NU up a break point, 4-3, early in the match, Clemson managed to come back and break Schaechterle’s serve to clinch the match, 9-7.
After dropping the doubles point, the Cats faced an uphill struggle heading into singles competition.
“The doubles point doesn’t guarantee the match, but it changes your perspective,” Torricelli said. “It heightens the pressure for the team behind, because you are down. We had to go into singles ready to battle.”
Hanus started at the No. 1 singles spot by taking the first set 6-4 from Thompson, the nation’s 27th–ranked singles player. Hanus then dropped the second set 6-3 before abandoning a 2-1 lead in the third set.
Clemson clinched the match with a win at the No. 2 singles spot.
Tempke fell to junior Sander Koning 6-0, 6-3.
Perrin also lost his match 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 3 spot, while Lock fell 6-4, 6-2 to sophomore Ryan Young at the No. 4 position.
Clemson’s clean sweep in singles forced NU to abandon the remaining three singles matches.
Although the Cats couldn’t garner a point against Clemson’s experiened team, Torricelli said he did not think the youth of his team or its lack of NCAA playing experience played a role in the loss.
“Everyone competed really well,” Torricelli said. “Nobody was intimidated by being in the NCAAs, because once you get going, it’s just another tennis match. The environment was great at Georgia, but we got outplayed.”
Now that the Cats’ season is over, Torricelli said they will take some time off before preparing for next year.
NU also will address how they will handle the loss of graduating seniors Hanus, Hoeveler and Perrin.
“We accomplished a lot this season, and there is nothing to feel bad about,” Torricelli said. “Next year we will strive to go further into the NCAAs, but it will be a whole new team and the returning guys will be playing in entirely new roles.”
Reach Steve Silver at [email protected].
