Northwestern
Purdue
Wildcats Stop Boilermakers in Their Tracks
4/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 3, 2004
Northwestern-Purdue results
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EVANSTON, Ill.-- Determination was the key to another victory for Northwestern's 36th-ranked men's tennis team.
Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) exemplified that in his 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) victory over Paul Rose at No. 1 singles to clinch the match for the 'Cats in their eventual 5-2 win over No. 75 Purdue at Vandy Christie Tennis Center (doubles) and Combe Indoor Tennis Center (singles).
"I was determined and focused not to go to a third set," said Hanus. "I have been in these (tight) situations before; I managed not to get flustered."
A crucial doubles point set the tone for the Wildcats (12-4, 3-1 Big Ten). After their teammates lost at No. 2, Chuck Perrin (Atlanta, Ga./The Walker School) and Justin Hoeveler (Ross, Calif./The Branson School) tied things up by edging Troy Havens and David Robinson 8-6 at No. 1.
The doubles match at No. 3 turned out to be a nail-biter. Down 5-4, Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) and Adam Schaechterle (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine) stormed back to beat Paul Rose and Scott Warner 9-8 (8-6) for the point. That come-from-behind win allowed the Wildcat duo to improve to 6-2 on the year.
Due to falling temperatures, the singles matches moved indoors to Combe, where NU jumped to a 3-1 lead with victories from Schaechterle and Perrin. The former knocked off Eric Hodgman 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6, and shortly after, the latter topped Sounak Chatterjee 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3.
After Hanus claimed his 15th victory of the season, which put Northwestern up 4-2 over the Boilermakers (6-8, 1-2), Christian closed out the competition by rallying to trump Colin Foster 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5.
"The two teams are very even, and I knew it would be close," said head coach Paul Torricelli. "Doubles once again proved to be huge, and winning that point helped us mentally in singles."
The Wildcats play host to top-ranked Illinois at noon tomorrow at Combe Tennis Center.
Players Mentioned
