BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – University of Northwestern Men's Tennis traveled over to Life Time Fitness in Bloomington on Saturday for a match against College of St. Scholastica in the afternoon and another against Simpson College in the evening. The Eagles lost a nail biter 5-4 against the Saints in which four matches were decided by tiebreakers. UNW then took a 7-2 win over the Storm to close out the day.
Match One: St. Scholastica
In the opening match of the day against St. Scholastica, the Saint jumped ahead to a 2-0 lead in doubles with wins at #1 and #3. The UNW duo of
Stewart Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) and
Jacob Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) proceeded to win the #2 doubles match 8-7, taking the tiebreaker 9-7.
Trailing 2-1 heading into singles, the Eagles needed to win four of the six matches. Morrell won the top match, battling back from a first-set loss for a 4-6, 6-4, (10-4) win at #1 singles. Weddle took the #2 singles match 6-1, 7-6 (9-7). UNW got one more win at #6 singles with
Darin Rupp (Sioux Falls, S.D./Roosevelt) rallying for a 1-6, 6-4, (10-8) victory, but the Saints took the other three matches to clinch the 5-4 team win.
Match Two: Simpson
The closing match of the evening was a battle against Simpson. The Eagles got off to a stronger start in that match, winning two of the three doubles matchs. Morrell and Weddle put UNW up 1-0 with an 8-3 win at #2 doubles.
Davis Pfaff (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) and
Jack Geurkink (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) followed with an 8-1 win at #1 doubles. The Storm took the #3 match 8-2.
In singles, Pfaff put the Eagles up 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-0 win in the #3 match. Morrell followed with a 6-1, 6-2 win at #1 singles. Up 4-1 and needing just one more point to clinch the team win, Weddle delivered with a 6-2, 6-0 win in the #2 singles contest.
With the match in hand up 5-1, the Eagles kept on competing. Griffin Jarchow won his #4 singles match 6-1, 7-5. Rupp followed with a 4-6, 6-2, (10-4) win in the #5 match for a seventh Northwestern team point. The Storm took the #6 match, but the Eagles nonetheless soared to the 7-2 team victory.
Up next
Northwestern will head to down to Orlando, Florida to begin their Spring Break matches on Monday, March 6 against Covenant College.
