Just the start of fall competition.
Men’s Tennis
The ‘Cats started their fall campaign on Sept. 27, competing in the Milwaukee Tennis Classic.
On the first day of competition, Northwestern went 3-1 in its four singles matches. Graduate student Saiprakash Goli impressed winning both of his singles matches. Against Marquette’s Cyrus Ahmad, Goli won 6-4, 7-5 in a tightly contested match. Goli also breezed past Western Michigan’s Solomon Dunsirn with a 6-3, 6-4 two-set victory. Northwestern’s Owen Megargee beat Nebraska’s Henry Bilicic in two sets, but fell to DePaul’s Quang Vinh Nguyen in two sets after dropping a tightly contested opening set 7-5.
On day two, Goli won a three set match over DePaul’s Pablo Torres Almeida to send him to the semifinals, but Western Michigan’s Anton Arzhankin proved to be too much as Goli lost in two sets 6-2, 6-4. Megargee struggled in the quarterfinals against Ohio State’s Alex Fuchs, winning just three of 15 games as Fuchs cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win.
Next up for coach Arvid Swan’s squad are the ITA Regional Championships from Oct. 10 to Oct. 14 in East Lansing. A major test with top regional competition, top qualifiers earn automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament under the NCAA’s pilot championship format.
Women’s Tennis
Opening play on Oct. 4, coach Claire Pollard’s squad battled in the Notre Dame Invite in South Bend.
Starting on Friday, Northwestern dazzled in doubles competition, winning four of five pairings with the combo of sophomore Katya Shepherd Johnson and senior Kiley Rabjohns sweeping their competition. In singles competition, Northwestern won six of 10 matches, with Shepherd Johnson rebounding from a first set sweep, with 6-3, 6-3 victories in sets two and three to beat Sofia Carvalho Rocha.
On Saturday, Northwestern struggled in doubles play with the pairing of Sydney Pratt and first-year Mika Dagan Fruchtman the only one of five pairings to win, toppling Tulane’s Jiayun Zhu and Delanie Tribby 6-3. In singles action, NU took seven of 10 matches, with Maia Louriero outlasting Tulane’s Micah Pierce in three sets.
Yet, Sunday brought its fair share of struggles for NU’s squad. The Wildcats dropped all three of their doubles tilts, and in singles competition Louriero and Jennifer Riester were the only Wildcats to win, with five other matches going in the loss column.
Next up, Northwestern travels to Columbus, Ohio for the ITA Regional Championships from Oct. 10 to Oct. 14.