Northwestern concluded its regular season with a pair of conference matches as coach Arvid Swan’s squad faced off against Indiana and Purdue.
In their first Big Ten clash of the weekend, the Wildcats (9-17, 3-6 Big Ten) welcomed the Hoosiers (16-10, 4-5 Big Ten) in a Friday night tilt at the Combe Tennis Center. NU struggled to find its rhythm during the match’s early stages, resulting in a commanding 4-1 Indiana victory.
The doubles portion of the match saw the Hoosiers jump to a scorching start. Their No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams prevailed, giving the visitors an early 1-0 lead.
Indiana’s No. 1 doubles team of seniors Jagger Saylor and Ilya Tiraspolsky swiftly defeated senior Gleb Blekher and junior Felix Nordby 6-2.
For the No. 3 doubles match, the ’Cats’ pair of freshman Jackson Caldwell and Nick Herdoiza fell 6-3 to Facundo Yunis and Luc Boulier.
The lack of success from the doubles portion bled into the rest of the match, as NU only took home one singles court.
The ’Cats’ lone singles victory came in a brilliant effort from Nordby, who defeated freshman Nikola Kolyachev in dominating fashion with scores of 6-1 and 6-1.
In its second contest of the weekend, NU bounced back as it defeated Purdue 5-2 in an outdoor match at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center Sunday afternoon.
Unlike their first weekend match, the ’Cats got off to a rapid start against the Boilermakers (7-15, 2-7 Big Ten), winning on the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles courts.
However, NU’s No. 2 doubles pair, freshmen Greyson Casey and senior Presley Thienemen fell 6-3 to Purdue’s freshman duo of Stefan Simeunovic and Henrik Villanger.
Swan’s No. 1 doubles pair, Nordby and Blekher, earned the first advantage of the doubles portion as they defeated Juan David Velasquez and Daniel Labrador by an overpowering 6-1 score.
Swan’s group clinched the doubles point as its No. 3 pair, Caldwell and Herdoiza, rebounded from its previous loss against Indiana. The duo secured a 6-4 victory over Soham Purohit and Mujtaba Ali-Khan that gave the ’Cats an early 1-0 lead.
NU carried its momentum through the rest of the match, taking four of the six singles matches, but the visitors had their work cut out for them, including Thieneman, who battled with Simeunovic on court one.
In the first set, Thieneman appeared in complete control of the match, winning 6-2. However, Simeunovic battled back in the second set and went toe-to-toe with Thieneman until the ’Cats’ senior pulled away with a thrilling 7-6 victory.
NU will face Wisconsin in Thursday’s first-round Big Ten Tournament match. This will be a home contest for the ’Cats, as the conference tournament will take place at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center.
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