After Northwestern’s 4-1 win against Penn State Friday, coach Arvid Swan expressed dismay with his team’s doubles play — a season-long struggle.
“We’ve got to look at different options,” Swan said. “We have to play on Sunday, but we’ve got to look at different options, different pairings because we’ve been good at (No. 1). We’ve got to figure out (No.) 2 and (No. 3).”
During Sunday’s match in the gloomy, windy conditions of Vandy Christie Tennis Center, the Wildcats (12-14, 4-7 Big Ten) debuted new pairings in Swan’s second and third slots of the doubles lineup. Despite this change, No. 4 Ohio State dominated the match, sweeping NU 4-0 in fewer than two hours. The Buckeyes (22-2, 11-0 Big Ten) clinched a share of the Big Ten title with their victory.
Swan moved freshman Vincent Yang up to the No. 2 doubles slot alongside sophomore Greyson Casey — marking Yang’s first Big Ten match higher than No. 3 doubles. Graduate student Saiprakash Goli moved to the No. 3 doubles slot, teaming up with senior Max Bengtsson.
Goli and Bengtsson were broken in the first game of their match, putting them on a losing track. Later, they went down a double break while serving at 2-4. Around this time, Yang was broken at love while serving at 3-4. This downward trajectory resulted in the two matches ending within 10 seconds of each other.
A pair of volley winners resulted in a 6-2 loss on the No. 3 court and a 6-3 loss at No. 2, respectively, clinching the doubles point for Ohio State for a 1-0 lead.
Even in defeat, Swan felt optimistic about the performance of his new doubles squads.
“We did some good things in doubles,” Swan said. “I thought it was a better performance than Penn State. They need to practice this week to see if we’re going to continue with (those teams) or do something different, but I thought the level was better.”
At the No. 1 doubles position, senior Felix Nordby and junior Chad Miller trailed 5-4 when the doubles point concluded.
NU crumbled against its superior opponents in singles play, losing all six opening sets.
“I thought we competed hard,” Swan said. “Ohio State is one of the best teams in the country for a reason. They were better than us today, so a lot of credit goes to them in terms of the matches we lost.”
Casey, at No. 3 singles, lost his first set 6-0. Soon enough, No. 4 Bengtsson, No. 5 Miller and No. 6 Yang fell in their sets 6-1, 6-2, and 6-3, respectively.
No. 1 Goli, facing the No. 10 player in the nation in Aidan Kim, fought back from down a break to get to 3-3, but Kim won three straight games to win the first set 6-3. Meanwhile, No. 2 Nordby, NU’s leader in wins this season, was broken at 5-5 by Alexander Bernard, the No. 60 player in the nation. Bernard then served for the set and won 7-5.
Casey’s match was the first to conclude with a 6-0, 6-3 loss. Yang was next to close with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat. Ultimately, Bengtsson’s loss to Jack Anthrop, the No. 92 player in the country, 6-1, 6-3 secured the Buckeye win.
Miller trailed 6-2, 4-3 when the match concluded. Nordby was behind 7-5, 4-2, while Goli was locked in a competitive 6-3, 4-3 match against one of the nation’s best players.
“I wasn’t going to get that many shots at breaking him. He really won’t give you that much,” Goli said. “I feel like I knew I had to really play my game, use my strengths, go to his weaknesses (and) just try to stay as competitive as I can.”
In this match, Goli, Nordby and Bengtsson played their final matches in Evanston. Prior to the match, each player was honored with a plaque.
The ’Cats will hit the West Coast for its final weekend of regular season play against Washington and Oregon, starting Friday.
Email: c.spungin@dailynorthwestern.com
Related Stories:
— Men’s Tennis: Northwestern rallies after losing doubles point, defeats Penn State 4-1
— Men’s Tennis: Northwestern falls to No. 31 Michigan State, No. 23 Michigan in road trip
— Men’s Tennis: Northwestern splits Saturday doubleheader against No. 23 Illinois and Youngstown State
