After five displays of dominance to begin the season, Northwestern (6-0) faced its toughest test yet last weekend against Middle Tennessee State. While the result was the same and the Wildcats returned to Evanston as winners, this victory will certainly stand out from the rest.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these kids,” said coach Arvid Swan. “We just beat a team that I feel is going to make the NCAA tournament at their courts in incredibly tough conditions. … It was an unbelievable team effort, and I couldn’t be more proud of my team.”
NU started its first away meet of the season in style, taking the doubles point from a team that draws its strength from doubles. The pair of junior captain Alex Sanborn and freshman Josh Graves, along with graduate student Alex Thams and sophomore Andrew McCarthy, clinched the doubles point for NU, winning 8-4 and 8-5 respectively. At the No. 1 spot, senior Marc Dwyer and freshman Tobias Reitz lost the match in their second tiebreaker of the season, this time by a score of 7-5.
After winning the doubles point, the Cats’ singles players got off to a slow start. No.1 Dwyer, No. 2 Reitz and No. 3 Thams all recorded their first singles loss of the season. All three put up a good fight, and Thams even pushed John Peers to a third set, but in the end the top three Blue Raiders proved to be too much.
Down 3-1, NU could not afford to lose another match. All eyes turned to the No. 4 singles match between Sanborn and Morgan Richard. Sanborn lost the first set 6-0 but came back strong in the second and third sets, winning them 6-3 and 6-1, respectively.
Because of the limited court space at the Nashboro Village Athletic Club in Murfreesboro, Graves and freshman Eric Spector had to wait for other matches to finish before they could start. Both of the last two matches were must-wins for the Cats, and each freshman pulled through. Spector topped Alex McCann 6-3, 6-2 and Graves soon followed suit, beating Richard Cowden 6-4, 6-3.
For McCarthy, the depth of the team shone through on Saturday.
“It was a big match for us today, ” said the sophomore. “It was kind of a questionable match because it was closer than any of the matches that we have played thus far. We learned that as a team certain guys are going to step up when other guys have trouble or are struggling.”
Dwyer, the most experienced player on the team, echoed McCarthy and noted that the team atmosphere created a memorable match.
“Everyone did more than pull their own weight; everyone helped everyone else out,” said the senior. “Everyone did a great job today, and it was really fun to be a part of.”
The Cats hope to continue their undefeated streak next Sunday with two dual meets against Ball State and Lewis. While NU is off to their best start in eight years, Swan knows that the team still has work left to do.
“We still have a long ways to go,” Swan said. “But at least for today we made some good progress.”
