Losers of three of its last four matches, No. 66 Northwestern traveled to face No. 31 Michigan State and No. 23 Michigan hoping to play the role of giant-killer.
Coach Arvid Swan’s unit entered the weekend looking for its first Big Ten win since March 16. At the weekend’s conclusion, however, the Wildcats (11-13, 3-6 Big Ten) failed to win a Big Ten match for the third consecutive weekend by losing to both of its foes in Michigan.
NU fell to the Spartans (13-7, 8-2 Big Ten) 6-1. The ’Cats quickly lost the doubles points with losses at the No. 3 and No. 1 slots. Senior Max Bengtsson and freshman Vincent Yang fell 6-2 at No. 3, while senior Felix Nordby and junior Chad Miller lost 6-3 at the No. 1 shortly thereafter.
At the No. 2 position, graduate student Saiprakash Goli and sophomore Greyson Casey had their match unfinished at 3-3.
Singles play didn’t go much smoother for NU, losing four singles matches in straight sets to assume a 5-0 deficit.
No. 2 Nordby lost just his fourth match of the season with a 7-5, 6-3 loss to Ozan Baris, the No. 10 ranked player in the nation. The next two losses for the ’Cats were also losses against ranked opponents as No. 93 ranked Max Sheldon defeated Casey 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 3 and No. 28 Aristotelis Thanos beat Goli 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 1. Yang, playing at the No. 6, then lost 7-5, 6-2.
After dropping his first set 7-5, No. 4 Bengtsson won the second set 6-4 to force a third set match tiebreak. He, however, lost NU’s sixth point in the match by falling 10-8 in the match tiebreak.
No. 5 Miller won the ’Cats’ lone point of the weekend by coming back from down a set to win 5-7, 6-2, [10-8]. Miller registered his 13th singles win of the season, which ranks as second most on the team only behind Nordby’s 15.
Traveling east to Ann Arbor, Michigan, NU was swept by the Wolverines (14-8, 8-2 Big Ten) 4-0.
In doubles, Bengtsson and Yang struggled again at the No. 3 position, losing 6-2 for the second time during the weekend. With Goli and Casey’s 6-4 loss at the No. 2 spot, the ’Cats surrendered the doubles point.
At the No. 1 position, Nordby and Miller had their match unfinished while trailing 5-4.
A quick loss became inevitable after Michigan captured all six singles first sets. No. 3 Casey was the first NU player to fall with a 6-2, 7-6(2) loss, soon followed by No. 1 Goli’s 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Will Cooksey, the No. 83 player in the nation. Yang fell in straight sets for the second time in the weekend with his 6-4, 6-2 loss, granting the Wolverines the victory. The ’Cats, as a result, have lost five straight Big Ten matches.
Upon the match’s conclusion, No. 2 Nordby trailed 7-6(6), 3-2. No. 4 Bengtsson was down 7-5, 1-2, and No. 5 Miller had taken his second set 6-4 after losing the first set 7-5.
NU returns to Evanston next weekend for the final two home matches of the season against Penn State and No. 3 Ohio State.
Email: c.spungin@dailynorthwestern.com
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