April 10, 2005
Iowa City, IA – Facing yet another ranked Big Ten opponent, the Iowa men’s tennis team was defeated 5-2 at the hands of 64th-ranked Northwestern.
Iowa opened up with a 1-0 lead after taking two of the three doubles matches. All three of the doubles matches went right down to the wire. Kyle Markham and Brett Taylor fought hard at the No. 1 match before falling 9-7. At No. 2 doubles, Aaron Schaechterle faced his twin-brother Adam and came up victorious when Aaron teamed up with Chaitu Malempati to win their match 8-7 (4). J.P. Ritchie and Bart van Monsjou clinched the doubles point when they scored a thrilling 8-7 (5) decision at No. 3 doubles.
Northwestern, coming off a 4-3 victory over 57th-ranked Minnesota, stormed back in singles play winning five of the six matches. For the Hawkeyes, Brett Taylor continued his winning ways at No. 5 singles, improving his dual record to 13-3. Taylor was down 5-4 in the third set, but rallied to send the match into a tiebreak where he prevailed 7-5. At No. 3 singles, Ritchie battled hard in a three-set match before falling 7-5, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (6). At No. 1 singles, Malempati faced a hard-serving Tommy Hanus and lost a 7-5, 6-3 decision. Markham, van Monsjou, and Schaechterle all lost their matches in straight sets.
“We took a step forward with our doubles play, but we are still playing too inconsistent.” noted Head Coach Steve Houghton.
Iowa (9-8, 1-5) hits the road next weekend to face Penn State on Friday at 2 p.m. On Sunday, the Hawkeyes travel to Indiana to face the Hoosiers at 11 a.m.
RESULTS
IOWA 2
#64 Northwestern 5
Doubles
No.1 Hanus/Perrin (NW) def. Markham/Taylor (IOWA) 9-7
No. 2 Malempati/ Schaechterle (IOWA) def. Hoeveler/Schaechterle (NW) 8-7 (4)
No. 3 Ritchie/ van Monsjou (IOWA) def. Tempke/Lock (NW) 8-7 (5)
Singles
No. 1 Tommy Hanus (NW) def. Chaitu Malempati (IOWA) 7-5, 6-3
No. 2 Christian Tempke (NW) def. Kyle Markham (IOWA) 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 Chuck Perrin (NW) def. J.P. Ritchie (IOWA) 7-5, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (6)
No. 4 Willy Lock (NW) def. Bart van Monsjou (IOWA) 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 Brett Taylor (IOWA) def. Adam Schaechterle (NW) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
No. 6 Matt Christian (NW) def. Aaron Schaechterle (IOWA) 6-0, 6-3