No. 49 Northwestern finished its final match before the start of Big Ten play Friday with a clean sweep over UIC, extending its season record to 11-3. The Wildcats are in the midst of their best season start since 2015.

NU started by taking the doubles point. Junior Ethan Schiffman and junior Cyrus Mahjoob, ranked No. 70, beat Artem Alekseychuk and Simon Knezevic 6-2. Just seconds later, No. 73 duo of Greyson Casey and Carter Pate followed up with a 6-2 win of their own.

The ’Cats were no less dominant in singles. At the No. 1 spot, Pate lost just one game in his 6-0, 6-1 rout of Alekseychuk, putting NU’s second point on the board. Freshman Cooper Han dominated senior Youssef Hamed 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 6 spot, finishing second and consolidating his clutch win Feb. 22 over Denver. 

Mahjoob confirmed the win for the Wildcats with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Eldin Nokic.

Casey dug himself out of an early hole at the No. 3 singles spot against Knezevic, down three games, but he won six straight games to clinch the first set. He then took the match 6-3, 6-3. 

Senior Chad Miller had the only three-setter of the day, winning 6-1, 3-6, (10-4) against Emil Dapcevic at No. 5 singles. 

The highlight of the day was No. 4 singles Schiffman’s battle against Mihailo Savic. It was the last contest to finish, and it took two tiebreak sets. Both players played well and served even better, but in the end, Schiffman pulled out ahead with a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) win.

The ’Cats hope to bring this momentum with them to the rest of the season, which only consists of Big Ten conference play. They play again March 6 at home against Washington.

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