The drive from East Lansing to Ann Arbor was not enough to dispel the Wildcats’ late season woes.
For Northwestern’s tennis teams, there is no time for April showers to bring May flowers. With the end of the regular season rapidly approaching, both the men’s and women’s squads battled a set of ranked Big Ten teams this week.
Claws met spears on Friday as No. 66 Northwestern men’s tennis (11-13, 3-6 B1G) faced off against No. 31 Michigan State (13-7, 8-2 Big Ten). The Spartans proved to be too fierce for the ‘Cats doubles teams, as Max Sheldon and Danial Rakhmatullayev defeated Max Bengtsson and Vincent Yang 6-2 to grab a win on the No. 3 court. At the No. 1 doubles spot, MSU’s Ozan Baris (a top-10 player in singles), and Matthew Forbes dealt a 6-3 loss to Felix Nordby and Chad Miller, giving the Spartans the doubles point.
Singles proved to be singularly painful for Northwestern, as Michigan State won five matches in a row to clinch the day. Baris, Sheldon, Aristotelis Thanos and Rakhmatullayev each dominated their Northwestern opponents as neither Nordby, Greyson Casey, Saiprakash Goli or Yang could win even a set. Bengtsson and Miller each split their first two sets. The former lost 10-8 in set three against Vuk Radjenovic; the latter flipped the script against David Saye 10-8 and notched the only win for the ‘Cats on the day. The Spartans claimed victory 6-1.
The wounded ‘Cats traveled an hour southeast to Ann Arbor on Sunday to avenge themselves against No. 23 Michigan (14-8, 8-2 B1G) on National Student Athlete Day. The Wolverines were red hot on home soil following 4-0 victories against Penn State and No. 24 Illinois, and it looked like Northwestern would add its name to the list of victims by the end of the doubles section. Mert Oral and Bjorn Swenson dealt Bengtsson and Yang their second loss of the weekend while Goli and Casey fell at the rackets of Will Cooksey and Alex Cairo. 1-0, Wolverines.
Just like Friday, things only got worse as the day went on. Down one set against Swenson, Casey battled back in the second but could not overcome his formidable opponent, losing the tiebreaker 2-7. At the No. 1 singles spot, Goli lost 3-6 in both sets against Cooksey, and Yang fell to Mert Oral 4-6, 2-6 to give the Wolverines a 4-0 win.
No. 47 Northwestern women’s tennis (11-11, 4-6 B1G), however, enjoyed the friendly confines of Evanston, opening the competition against No. 11 Ohio State (15-2, 9-1 Big Ten). A week prior, the ‘Cats picked up two points against No. 3 Michigan, and despite the long odds, anything was possible. Ohio State’s Audrey Spencer and Nao Nishino made quick work of Kiley Rabjohns and Neena Feldman 6-2 to lead off in the doubles. The star duo of Britany Lau and Mika Dagan Fruchtman struck back for the ‘Cats, winning their match 7-5. The No. 2 doubles court went to a tiebreaker, but Sydney Pratt and Erica Jessel fell 7-4 to Buckeyes Sydni Ratliff and Sophia Cisselgnatiev. Ohio State takes the doubles point.
Singles were not as close, and the classy Buckeyes showed exactly why they are knocking on the door of the top-10. Luciana Perry, currently No. 9 in the country, defeated Lau in both sets to deny her an undefeated weekend. Ratliff defeated Pratt 6-4 in both sets to put Ohio State one point away from victory. After a tight first set, Shelly Bereznyak grabbed the decisive point against Rabjohns as the Buckeyes left Evanston with the plunder of a 4-0 victory.
After recovering on Saturday, the ‘Cats faced off against Lions as No. 42 Penn State (13-7, 4-6 Big Ten) came to the Combe Tennis Center. The feline fixture saw Northwestern sweep the doubles to get their first point of the weekend. Rabjohns and Jessel beat Kate Zink and Maria Ciubotaru 6-2 while Lau and Dagan Fruchtman scored 6-4 on court one against Jordina Cegarra and Patricia Grigoras.
The women made up for the men’s performance as they refused to drop a set against the Nittany Lions. Autumn Rabjohns won in straight sets to grab the first point against Zink. Pratt scored 6-1, 6-3 to beat Maiko Uchijima, and Britany Lau finished off the weekend for the ‘Cats with a 7-5, 6-0 victory against Grigoras to give Northwestern a 4-0 victory.
The men’s team will drop a bit lower in the rankings after this weekend, but they will have an easier slate this coming weekend in Evanston against unranked Penn State and Ohio State. On the women’s side, the home stretch continues against the Fighting Illini on Saturday.