ST. PAUL, Minn. - Fresh off an exciting win on Wednesday afternoon that produced Head Coach
Matt Swigart's 400th career victory, the University of Northwestern Men's Tennis team was back at Johnson Tennis Complex 24 hours later to take on a tough University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire squad. UNW wasn't able to sustain the momentum, falling to the Blugolds by a 5-2 score.
UW-Eau Claire was able to take the first doubles, match--6-3 over Northwestern's No. 1 team of
Carson Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) and
Sam Majerus (River Falls, Wis./River Falls)--but the Eagles were able to answer. The No. 2 squad of
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Jacob Petrick (Omaha, Neb./Elkhorn North), and the No. 3 pairing of
Zander Peterson (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) and
Caleb Swigart (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park), both won by 6-4 scores to snatch the doubles point away from UWEC and take an early lead.
Unfortunately, UNW was not able to carry the momentum over into singles play. Petrick was first to finish with a 1-6, 1-6, loss at No. 6, and Haack fell 1-6, 5-7 in the No. 1 match. Majerus suffered a 3-6, 0-6 defeat at No. 3 singles, and Issac Thomforde's 2-6, 4-6 loss at No. 5 clinched the team win for Eau Claire. At No. 4, Peterson battled back from a 3-6 loss in the opening set to win the second 6-3 and force a tiebreak, but came up just short, falling 9-11. Jarchow's No. 2 singles match was the final one of the day to conclude, and it was worth the wait. After winning a thrilling first set, 7-6 (7-5), the senior dropped the second, 2-6, to enter a tiebreak. Despite the momentum with his opponent after the second set, Jarchow was able to prevail, 10-7.
Northwestern will have Friday off before double-dipping on Saturday in Collegeville, Minnesota. The Eagles will take on Saint John's at 1:00 PM and Crown at 4:00 PM.
