CASSELBERRY, Fla. - The University of Northwestern Men's Tennis team, on its third day of matches in Florida, was looking to build off its level against Calvin. Facing off against Albion College, the Eagles won a gutsy, 5-2 match against the Britons.
Matches were held close on all courts in doubles. Many crucial points became the decider for each match as they went on. At No. 1 doubles,
Carson Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) and
Sam Majerus (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) were able to pull out a crucial break later on in the match to win 6-4. The same was true for No. 2 doubles. At 4-4,
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Jacob Petrick (Omaha, Neb./Elkhorn North) got a break of serve, and were able to hold out to a 6-4 win as well, to win the doubles point. Finishing out doubles,
Isaac Thomforde (Crookston, Minn./Crookston) and
Caleb Swigart (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) stayed even with their opponents at No. 3 doubles, until at 5-5, when the Britons broke the Eagles' serve and the duo lost 5-7.
Eager to get their first win in Florida, the Eagles marched with momentum into singles. Starting out strong, senior captain
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) (No. 2) played clean and with great defense from-start to-finish to win 6-0, 6-0. Haack followed suit at No. 1 singles, as he stayed aggressive and pulled out a 6-3, 6-1 victory. The Britons wouldn't let up; however, as Kramer (No. 3) would fall 2-6, 2-6, and Petrick (No. 5) would battle to stay in the match in the second set before succumbing to a 0-6, 6-7 (2-7 tiebreaker) defeat. At 3-2 in the overall score, it was up to one of the second-year players to pull out a win for the Eagles. Luckily, at No. 4 singles, Thomforde stayed in his groove and won 6-3, 6-4, securing Northwestern's first win in Florida. Finally, at No. 6 singles, Majerus and his opponent fought hard back-and-forth. Majerus lost the first set in a tiebreaker, but came back in the second set to go to a third set, ten-point tiebreaker. Majerus was down 6-9 in the tiebreaker, meaning he had to save all three match points to try to save the match. He did just that. With a risky drop-shot and great shot selections, Majerus won five-straight points to claim a 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 11-9 victory.
The Eagles will compete one more day in Florida against Hampden-Sydney College on Friday, March 13th at 10:30 AM (11:30 AM ET) at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.
