NU Opens Big Ten Schedule With 2-1 Weekend

Friday, March 6

Evanston, Ill.

6 p.m. CT

Northwestern

Washington

Photo by: Colleen Charchut/Northwestern Athletics

NU Opens Big Ten Schedule With 2-1 Weekend

3/8/2026 10:35:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score 3

By: Charlie Spungin, NUSports.com

EVANSTON, Ill. — No. 42 Northwestern went 2-1 over the weekend while opening Big Ten play and closing non-conference play inside Combe Tennis Center, downing Washington, 4-2, and Creighton, 4-0, but falling to No. 58 Oregon.

"Good to get a win against Washington. Disappointed that we weren't able to beat Oregon today, and good to finish strong and come back after a tough loss this evening," Head Coach Arvid Swan said.

With the weekend's results, the Wildcats (13-4, 1-1 Big Ten) have surpassed their win totals from both the 2024 (10) and 2025 (12) dual seasons. The team's 13-4 start is its best record through 17 matches since 2016 (15-2) and tied for the second-best start under Swan.

The Wildcats opened their Big Ten slate on Friday night against the Huskies (6-8, 0-2 Big Ten) with a 4-2 victory.

At No. 1 doubles, junior Greyson Casey and sophomore Carter Pate — the No. 26 doubles team in the nation — exchanged holds with their opponents Soham Purohit and Brett Pearson — the No. 58-ranked doubles pairing nationally — before breaking in the final game to secure a 6-4 victory at the No. 1 doubles slot. Junior Cyrus Mahjoob and junior Ethan Schiffman, the No. 2 pairing, followed suit minutes later, winning four straight games to prevail 6-4, guaranteeing the doubles point for the Wildcats.

The match was evened at one apiece after Northwestern fell at the No. 1 singles position, but the Wildcats broke the deadlock to take the lead again. Within seconds of each other, No. 2 Mahjoob took his match 6-3, 6-4, and first-year Cooper Han won his tilt 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 6 position.

Although Washington claimed the match at the No. 5 spot to make it a 3-2 affair, Schiffman came back from down a set to clinch the match for the Wildcats with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 result. In the third set, Schiffman and his opponent both held serve until 4-4. At this juncture, Schiffman broke his opponents serve and proceeded to serve out the match.

"I knew that I was going to hold my serve, but he had a really good serve too," Schiffman said. "When he had time, he was going to punish me, so I knew that whoever was going to break first was going to win this set."

Last season, Northwestern dropped its match to Washington, 4-0. Both Swan and Schiffman said that Friday's win reflected the team's improvement from last year.

"They beat us pretty badly last year, so [we were] just really motivated to come back and hold court at home," Swan said. "We knew it was going to be a tough match, but I think there's a huge amount of motivation when you play a team, and you get beat — as we did last year — to come back and show the level of improvement we've had as a group."

On Sunday morning, the Wildcats suffered a 4-1 setback against the Ducks (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten). Northwestern fell short of capturing the doubles point, although at the No. 1 slot, Casey and Pate notched a 6-4 win over Pierre Mouesca and Matthew Burton, the No. 39 doubles pairing in the nation. At the No. 6 singles position, Han accounted for the Wildcats' point, securing a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Casey, playing at the No. 3 singles position, led 7-5, 5-7, 5-3 when the match concluded, while No. 2 Mahjoob was in the midst of a third set after winning the second set 7-6 (12-10).

Returning to the court hours later, Northwestern routed the Bluejays (8-6), 4-0. Casey and Pate opened the match by tallying a 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles to move them to 13-0 on the season — the most wins by a Wildcat doubles pairing since 2022. After falling at No. 2 doubles, Northwestern locked up the doubles point at the No. 3 position, as senior Chad Miller and sophomore Vincent Yang recorded a 6-3 victory.

"Our game styles complement each other," Pate said of his and Casey's success. "I think we're able to hold serve quickly and are both good from the return. It's just clicking right now, so we're looking to keep it moving."

Pate, at No. 1 singles, was the first to finish his match, triumphing 6-3, 6-1. Yang, the team's No. 6, notched a 6-2, 6-2 win, and Mahjoob clinched the match with a 6-2, 5-3 victory at the No. 2 slot.

All three other Wildcats were up a set when the match concluded.

"We played progressively better as the match went on," Swan said. "I thought we were a little slow to start, but the guys won six first sets, and everybody was in position to win."

Northwestern hits the road in Big Ten play for the first time this season next weekend when it visits No. 29 Wisconsin on Friday, March 13 at 5:30 p.m. CT and No. 40 Nebraska on Sunday, March 15 at noon CT.