Northwestern picked up its first win of the season on Sunday in the second match of a doubleheader at home, beating Youngstown State after falling to Louisville.

At the Combe Tennis Center, the Wildcats were looking to get on the board after a 6-1 loss against Vanderbilt on Saturday, but fell short to Louisville, 4-1, Sunday afternoon.

In the doubles round, sophomores Vincent Yang and Dylan Charlap lost 6-4 against Cardinals Pedro Cressoni and Russell Lokko. Junior Cyrus Mahjoob and senior Chad Miller lost 6-2 to Hamza El Amine and Walid Ahouda, ranked at No. 59 in doubles. The last doubles match stood unfinished at 5-5, but junior Greyson Casey and sophomore Carter Pate kept pace with No. 21-ranked duo Matei Onofrei and Andre Steinbach.

The ’Cats didn’t fare much better in singles, with their only win coming from Mahjoob, recently named the Wildcats Big Ten Player to Watch. The Georgia transfer won his match 6-4, 6-4 against El Amine, who is ranked No. 122 in the ITA Division I rankings. 

Pate lost 6-2, 6-2 against Ahouda, who is ranked No. 68 in singles. Casey fell 6-4, 6-3 to Steinbach. Miller lost 7-5, 6-4 to Onofrei.

However, NU rebounded later in the day with a 4-0 win over Youngstown State. 

The ’Cats put their first points up in the doubles column with two dominant wins. Casey and Pate powered themselves to a 6-1 victory over Alexis Maulouet and Rafael Le Fur. Soon after, Schiffman and Han followed up with a 6-2 win over Alex Woiten and Oscar Gippet. 

These results are especially promising considering NU’s long-standing doubles struggles from last season, in which it went 24-42.

In singles play, the ’Cats’ success continued. Pate’s 6-1, 7-5 win against Matteo Ceradelli came first, putting the team at an early lead. Schiffman defeated Malo Vernejoul 6-3, 6-4 mere minutes later.

As Mahjoob fought Maulouet’s last stand against his many match-point opportunities, Casey clinched the team’s clean sweep with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Dominik Vonbank. Relief was palpable from spectators and players alike as NU secured its first win of the season. 

Coach Arvid Swan expressed pride in his team’s performance, as well as high expectations for the rest of the season. 

“We’re still a young team,” Swan said. “I think this was a really good step for us, and we’ve got to follow it up in the next few matches.”

The ’Cats season continues on Jan. 24 with another home court doubleheader against Cleveland State and IU-Indy.

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