ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - Coming off of a heartbreaking 4-5 loss on Tuesday night, the University of Northwestern Men's Tennis team was hunting for a win. Unfortunately, Thursday afternoon's match left the Eagles with a similar result: another 4-5 defeat. The Anderson University Ravens were able to claw their way to a victory after an impressive doubles performance, dropping Northwestern to 9-3 on the season.
The Eagles struggled to get their footing in doubles play.
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Ben Schutz (Maplewood, Minn./Homeschool) were first off the court for the men, falling to their opponents, 5-8.
Carson Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) and
Darin Rupp (Sioux Falls, S.D./Roosevelt) were next, also falling 5-8 to the Ravens. At one doubles,
Stewart Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) and
Jacob Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) were able to put up a fight, but fell short by a 6-8 score. Going into singles play down 0-3 was a devastating way to proceed, however the Eagles were ready to battle at every position to try and sneak out a win.
Morrell was the first to come off the court after singles play began. He sparked the Eagles' hopes with a 6-2, 6-1 victory. In similar fashion,
Caleb Jergenson (Livingston, Mont./Park) defeated his opponent at six singles, 6-1, 6-2. Rupp was also able to pull out a win, although a bit closer than his predecessors – 6-4, 6-3. With Rupp's win, the Eagles and the Ravens were now tied at three points apiece. At two singles, Weddle was narrowly edged out by his opponent, 5-7, 3-6. Another tough match was taking place at four singles, where Jarchow was also defeated by his opponent, 5-7, 4-6. This secured the victory for the Ravens. However, UNW was not done fighting. Haack was able to pull out an impressive win at three singles in a third set tiebreaker, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7).
The Eagles have one more match ahead of them on their spring break trip in Florida. They will face off against Susquehanna University at 12:00 PM ET (11:00 AM CT) on Friday.
