Northwestern kicked off its quest for an NCAA Tournament return with a nonconference road match against No. 21 NC State Monday morning, but failed to find much success in a 6-1 defeat.
The Wildcats (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) came out of the gates showing signs of early season rust, which the Wolfpack (1-0, 0-0 ACC) swiftly capitalized on to nab a 1-0 lead in the doubles round.
All three of NU’s doubles matches began with a common theme as the ‘Cats struggled to stymie NC State’s scorching starts, which became too great a challenge for coach Arvid Swan’s squad to overcome.
The lack of success from the doubles contests bled into the rest of the match, as NU lost five of its six singles courts. The visitors’ lone singles victory came from senior Presley Thieneman, who rallied back from a 6-3 first-set deficit to beat the Wolfpack’s Robin Catry.
Even though the scoreboard didn’t show it, there were some promising moments in today’s loss that should bode well for the rest of the season –– including junior Felix Nordby’s play.
In his singles match against NC State’s Luca Staeheli, Nordby went toe-to-toe with the All-ACC honoree and national qualifier in the first set, as Staeheli narrowly won 7-6. Nordby continued to battle in the second set, but it wasn’t enough to prevail in a 6-4 second-set defeat.
The ‘Cats have another opportunity to get in the win column for the first time this season when they travel to Memphis to take on the Tigers in a Friday nonconference match.
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