EVANSTON, Ill. – After opening up Big Ten play at home last weekend, No. 24 Northwestern men’s tennis will trek to Indiana for two matches this weekend. The ‘Cats will face Indiana on Friday, March 31 in Bloomington at 3 p.m. CT and will travel to Purdue at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday, April 2.
Northwestern began Big Ten play with one of the strongest teams in the conference, the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes. Northwestern opened the match taking the doubles point behind a pair of 6-4 victories from Steven Forman and Simen Bratholm at #1 Doubles and Ivan Yatsuk and Gleb Blekher at #2 Doubles. Ohio State rallied back with wins at #4 Singles, #5 Singles, #1 Singles, and #2 Singles to claim the match, 4-1.
The Wildcats responded with a pair of victories on Sunday, first taking down the No. 63 Penn State Nittany Lions, 4-0. Trice Pickens and Natan Spear claimed a 6-3 win at #3 Doubles and Forman/Bratholm won 6-2 at #1 Doubles to secure the doubles point for Northwestern. In Singles action, Steven Forman doubled NU’s lead with a 6-2, 6-1 win at #1 Singles. Trice Pickens followed that up by claiming a 6-2, 6-3 win at #4 Singles. Ivan Yatsuk clinched the match, 4-0 for the ‘Cats with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win at #2 Doubles.
In the second match of the day, the Wildcats made quick work of Chicago State, clinching the doubles point behind a 6-0 win from Pickens/Spear at #3 Doubles and a 6-3 win from Yatsuk/Blekher at #2 Doubles. Max Bengtsson secured a 6-0, 6-0 win at #6 Singles, Natan Spear won 6-3, 6-1 at #5 Singles, and Presley Thieneman earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory at #3 Singles to give NU its second 4-0 win of the day.
Following the three-match weekend, the ‘Cats will battle a pair of Big Ten foes. Northwestern kicks off the weekend by battling Indiana. The Hoosiers are 11-6 on the season and 1-0 in Big Ten play. IU’s doubles pairing of Patrick Fletchall and Ilya Tiraspolsky rank No. 70 in the ITA Doubles Rankings.
After the matchup with Indiana, Northwestern will head to West Lafayette to take on the Boilermakers on Sunday. Purdue is 2-11 on the season.
Following the two-match road swing, the ‘Cats will return home to Evanston for four consecutive matches, first hosting the Illinois Fighting Illini at Noon CT on April 8.
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