Surpassing last season’s win total after just eight games has not made Northwestern complacent. If anything, the Wildcats are more motivated than before.
Second-year coach Arvid Swan has turned the Cats (10-1) around in a hurry, due in large part to the nation’s 12th-ranked recruiting class. Tobias Reitz, a freshman from Germany, has typically played No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles this season. Fellow freshmen Joshua Graves and Eric Spector have each contributed several wins in singles and doubles.
After finishing last season 7-17, the team has turned some heads by winning their first eight games. Although part of the team’s success can be attributed to the three freshmen, the returning players have played an instrumental role in winning and helping the younger players develop.
“I’m pleased with every member of the team,” Swan said. “The freshmen certainly have made us a better team, but the older guys developing them have also made us a better team than we were last year.”
Senior Marc Dwyer plays No. 1 singles and also partners with Reitz in No. 1 doubles. As a freshman, Dwyer went 3-6 in nonconference play before Big Ten matches got underway. The early season preparation paid dividends, as he won five of his last seven games.
“The beginning of the season is especially important for the younger guys because they haven’t really played college tennis before,” Dwyer said. “Everyone’s been working really hard and really bought into the whole team-first attitude, and it’s starting to show.”
The team won its first five matches 7-0 before facing a tough test at Middle Tennessee State. The squads split the singles matches, but NU pulled out the victory 4-3 by winning the doubles point.
While the team would like to accumulate easy wins, playing in tight matches helps build team confidence for the future.
“The way our team is set up, we’re really good in the deeper lines,” said junior captain Alex Sanborn. “Our freshmen at five and six (singles) are really good. They’re kind of vital to our success – that and the doubles point.”
Players and coaches alike stress the importance of being in top physical shape when playing matches. To simulate the fatigue from playing tough Big Ten matches, the team lifts weights before practice. The players needed to adjust to the new regimen, which leaves them tired before practice begins.
Despite the team’s rapid improvement, Swan knows there’s still work to be done before Big Ten play begins.
“We’ve made a lot of progress from September until now, it’s just we have a lot of progress still to make, going forward,” he said. “We’ve got a long ways to go in every category. We’ve got to get tougher, we’ve got to get fitter, we’ve got to get stronger.”
Although fitness is a top priority for the Cats, they are still focusing on doing the little things right to play their best during matches. Dwyer said the team’s goal is to make the NCAA Tournament by beating the teams they should and pulling off a few upsets.
Swan, on the other hand, is taking it one match at a time and said the team should not get ahead of itself, especially since it is playing in “probably the best tennis conference in the country.”
“We’re a very young team; we have to play well in every match to win,” Swan said. “But I think we can compete against pretty much every team we play.”
