MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – Fresh off a week in sunny Florida, the University of Northwestern Men's Tennis team once again traveled south (sort of) to Iowa to take on Cornell College and Loras College on Friday. The Eagles found themselves in almost exclusively tight matches, with many going to third-set tiebreakers, and wound up splitting the two matches. Northwestern took down 10-5 Cornell, 4-3, in the afternoon before falling to Loras, 1-6.
Match One: Cornell College Rams
The first match of the day was a true road test against the Rams of Cornell. UNW switched up its doubles teams and it paid off, as the Eagles captured momentum early by sweeping the doubles matches by identical scores to win the doubles point. The No. 1 (
Carson Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River),
Sam Majerus (River Falls, Wis./River Falls)), No. 2 (
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne),
Isaac Thomforde (Crookston, Minn./Crookston)) and No. 3 (
Caleb Jergenson (Livingston, Mont./Park),
Caleb Swigart (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park)) teams all notched 6-4 victories.
Haack picked up a win at No. 1 singles as well, as his opponent retired after Haack won the first set and led the second, 3-0. Thomforde made it 3-0, Northwestern following his 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles, meaning UNW needed just one more singles win to clinch the match. That task proved more difficult than it sounds, as Jarchow fell 7-5, 1-6, 10-8 in the No. 2 match and Jergenson suffered a 2-6, 6-1, 10-8 defeat at No. 5. Cornell tied the match as Majerus lost 0-6, 6-4, 10-8 in the No. 3 spot, meaning it all came down to the No. 6 match. Swigart took the first set, 7-5, but lost 3-6 in the second. The freshman was able to steal the tiebreak; however, with a 10-8 win to give the Eagles a 4-3 team victory.
Match Two: Loras College Duhawks
Match two of the day did not turn out as well as the first for Northwestern. The Eagles did, once again, play well in doubles, as
Carson Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) and
Sam Majerus (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) won 6-3 at No. 1 and the duo of
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Isaac Thomforde (Crookston, Minn./Crookston) came away with a 6-4 win at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point. The Calebs (Jergenson and Swigart) fell 2-6 in the No. 3 match.
That would be the last point UNW would earn in the match, as things went south once singles play began. Jarchow suffered a 1-6, 3-6 defeat at No. 2, then Majerus lost a heartbreaker, 4-6, 7-5, 9-11 in his No. 3 match. Haack battled to a tiebreak at No. 1 singles, but fell 6-3, 4-6, 8-10. At No. 5, Jergenson lost 0-6, 1-6, then Thomforde lost a tight one in the No. 4 spot, 6-3, 2-6, 8-10. A 1-6, 5-7 loss at No. 6 singles for Swigart closed out the 1-6 team loss to the Duhawks.
Up Next
The Eagles will be back in Minnesota next Saturday, March 29th, to take on Ripon and Simpson in Owatonna, beginning at 10:30 AM.
