Northwestern
Ohio State
Wildcats Beat Down No. 24 Buckeyes, 5-2
4/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 24, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Adam Schaechterle clinched a 5-2 Northwestern win over No. 24 Ohio State Sunday with his gutsy straight-set win at No. 6 singles, helping the Wildcats beat the Buckeyes for the first time since 1999. Northwestern claimed the doubles point early on with wins at the No. 2 and 3 position, and also took four of six singles matches for the overall win.
Northwestern evens up to 11-11 overall and improves to 6-4 in the Big Ten.
"This was such a great effort from everybody across the board against a very good Ohio State team," head coach Paul Torricelli said. "It looks like we've been saving our best for last."
Twice this year now, the Wildcats have welcomed a top-25 opponent to Combe Tennis Center, only to send the visitors packing with a loss. Back on January 30, NU took down then-No. 18 North Carolina, 5-2. Both quality wins give the `Cats hope for an NCAA tournament bid.
Sunday marked the first time Northwestern had beaten Ohio State since the 'Cats went into Columbus back in 1999 and came out with a 4-3 win.
When asked how he felt after clinching the match for the `Cats, Schaechterle was quick to deflect the attention to Justin Hoeveler -- one of three seniors playing in the final home matches of their careers.
"I think the biggest clinch of the day was Justin in doubles," Schaechterle said. "He had match point on his racket a few times and when he put it away, it really got us going."
Schaechterle was pointing to Hoeveler and sophomore Willy Lock's No. 3 doubles match, during which they never trailed. The duo shot out to a 3-0 lead and later led 5-2. After the Buckeyes held serve to close the gap to 5-3, Hoeveler and Lock did not drop a point in the ninth game, putting them ahead 6-3. OSU's Atas and Mertens then won the next two, pulling to within 6-5, but the `Cats turned in another perfect game to get to 7-5. In the next game, Hoeveler brought the match home with his service game, clinching the doubles point with an 8-5 win.
The win at No. 3 came on the heels of Schaechterle and sophomore Christian Tempke putting together a late charge to win 8-5 at No. 2. The duo trailed for the first half of their match against Mullings and Klingemann. Down 4-5 though, the `Cats ran off four-straight games for their first victory of the season together, 8-5.
At No. 1 doubles, seniors Tommy Hanus and Chuck Perrin gave the nation's top-ranked duo of Green and Wilson all they could handle, but came up just short, 8-5.
Northwestern's 1-0 lead quickly turned into a 1-2 deficit after the Buckeyes started singles competition with wins at the No. 5 and 3 positions.
But just as OSU seemed to hit its groove, Hanus turned up the heat on the Buckeyes -- specifically, on No. 56 Devin Mullings. In the final home match of his career, Hanus left nothing on the court. The senior was spraying aces all over Court 3 like they were going out of style. His power game was too much for Mullings, who, to his credit, put up a great fight in the second set after dropping the first, 3-6. The two chipped away at each other all the way to a 6-6 tie in the second frame. In the tiebreak, they themselves knotted at 6-6 once again, but Hanus completed the upset by winning the next two points.
"Tommy was amazing for us," Torricelli said. "He's been hurt, didn't really practice at all this past week, but he was big today."
The three remaining Wildcats followed Hanus' lead.
Lock put the `Cats ahead, 3-2, by overcoming Green at No. 4, 7-6, 6-3. It was the sophomore's seventh-straight victory and he closes the regular season with a team-best 24-8 overall, 18-4 dual, and 9-1 Big Ten record.
That set the stage for Schaechterle's clincher at No. 6. The crowd at Combe Tennis Center sensed an upset brewing and slowly trickled down to Court 6, where Schaechterle and Dennis Mertens did not disappoint. Much like Lock before them, the two needed a tiebreak to decide a closely played first set. There, Schaechterle came out on top with a 7-3.
In the second set, Schaechterle built up a 3-2 lead and pulled away from that point. He broke Mertens in the next game to go up 4-2, and later extended his lead to 5-2 with a sweeping forehand just out of Mertens' reach. Schaechterle sealed the upset for the `Cats by breaking the Buckeye's serve after a series of deuces.
Tempke's three-set thriller at No. 2 iced the cake, bringing the final tally to 5-2. The sophomore finishes the season with an impressive 8-2 conference mark.
Northwestern is back in action at the Big Ten Championship, Thursday through Sunday, April 28 through May 1, hosted by Illinois.
#58 Northwestern 5, #24 Ohio State 2
Doubles
No. 1 - #1 Green/Wilson (OSU) def. Hanus/Perrin (NU), 8-5
No. 2 - Schaechterle/Tempke (NU) def. Mullings/Klingemann (OSU), 8-5
No. 3 - Hoeveler/Lock (NU) def. Atas/Mertens (OSU), 8-5
Singles
No. 1 - Tommy Hanus (NU) def. #56 Devin Mullings (OSU), 6-3, 7-6 (6)
No. 2 - Christian Tempke (NU) def. Chris Klingemann (OSU), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
No. 3 - #67 Joey Atas (OSU) def. Chuck Perrin (NU), 7-5, 6-1
No. 4 - Willy Lock (NU) def. Scott Green (OSU), 7-6, 6-3
No. 5 - Ross Wilson (OSU) def. Matt Christian (NU), 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 - Adam Schaechterle (NU) def. Dennis Mertens (OSU), 7-6 (3), 6-2
Order of doubles finish: 2, 1, 3
Order of singles finish: 5, 3, 1, 4, *6, 2
* denotes clincher
Players Mentioned
