Northwestern was not handed an easy draw when the Big Ten Tournament bracket became official last weekend. The team, coming in as the No. 10-seed, faced No. 7-seed Michigan — a team that swept the ’Cats earlier in the month and has defeated NU in every faceoff since 2016.
Playing in Columbus, Ohio, on neighboring courts, senior Max Bengtsson and freshman Vincent Yang both aired forehands long within minutes of each other. Both came on match points of dominant matches for their opponents. Both ended the Wildcats’ (12-17, 4-9 Big Ten) 2024-25 campaign.
The missed shots resulted in a 4-0 victory for the Wolverines (15-11, 8-5 Big Ten) in the Big Ten Tournament first round. The match marked continued dominance for Michigan over NU, as the Wolverines have not yielded a point to the ’Cats in any of the past four matches over the course of the last two seasons.
After starting the conference slate with a 3-1 record, NU lost nine of its last 10 matches against Big Ten opponents.
Thursday afternoon’s defeat started similar to many of the ’Cats’ matches this season — a lost doubles point. NU last won a doubles point against a Big Ten opponent March 14 against Indiana.
The ’Cats fell down an early break on all three doubles courts, spelling disaster from the beginning. Michigan quickly won 6-2 on both the No. 1 court, coming against senior Felix Nordby and junior Chad Miller, and the No. 3 court versus Bengtsson and graduate student Saiprakash Goli.
At the No. 2 position, Yang and sophomore Greyson Casey were on the verge of losing, as they trailed 5-2.
Then, NU nabbed just one first set of singles play.
No. 3 Casey and No. 6 Yang slipped to 6-1 and 6-0 losses, respectively. Soon after, No. 2 Nordby and No. 4 Bengtsson dropped their sets 6-3 and 6-2 apiece.
No. 5 Miller broke his opponent at 5-6 to take his first set 7-5, but it proved inconsequential. Casey soon lost his match 6-1, 6-0, putting the ’Cats in a 2-0 hole.
NU stared defeat in the eye when both Bengtsson and Yang faced three match points apiece while down 15-40. Miraculously, both players held, delaying the seemingly inevitable drubbing.
Their opponents gained the chance to serve out their matches, and that they did. Bengtsson lost 6-2, 6-1 before Yang fell 6-0, 6-2.
After dropping his first set, Nordby won his second set 6-4 and was ready to enter a third set as the match finished. Goli started the second set against the ITA’s No. 60-ranked player Will Cooksey up 4-0, while Miller’s match was in the early stages of its second set.
Nordby and Miller were the only players to win a set. The players have compiled 16-5 and 14-6 singles records on the campaign, respectively, the highest marks on the team.
The ’Cats have finished consecutive seasons with a losing record for the first time since the 2010 and 2011 dual seasons, and they will return to action in the fall without three of their top four singles players in Goli, Nordby and Bengtsson, who are graduating this year.
“They set a really, really good example for our younger players,” Swan told The Daily of his departing senior class last week.
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— Men’s Tennis: Northwestern’s 1990 team reflects on journey to Big Ten glory
— Men’s Tennis: Northwestern drops matches to Washington and Oregon, qualifies for Big Ten Tournament
— Men’s Tennis: Goli, Nordby, Bengtsson bid farewell to Evanston after rollercoaster careers
