April 8, 2011
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IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s tennis team was left with a bitter taste in its mouth courtesy of upset-minded Northwestern in Iowa’s first match on the Klotz Outdoor Tennis Courts. The No. 57 Hawkeyes (8-8, 2-4) fell by a 5-2 count to Northwestern (11-8, 2-3).
Iowa fell for just the third time this season at home. The Hawkeyes are back at the .500 mark for their season record, but will get two opportunities this weekend to add to the win column.
“We had pretty big leads in two doubles matches, and to not convert on that really hurt us,” said head coach Steve Houghton. “Northwestern is a talented team that, unfortunately, put it all together today. There is a really small margin for error this year in the Big Ten, and I think we weren’t as sharp as we could have been today.”
Juniors Marc Bruche and Will Vasos earned a hard fought victory in No. 1 doubles to lead the Hawkeyes. Bruche and Vasos fell behind to Northwestern’s Joshua Graves and Spencer Wolf, but took their first lead with a 4-3 advantage. The match was squared away at 6-6, but Iowa won the next two games to take the match. Bruche and Vasos are the first Iowa tandem to earn ten doubles wins this season.
Senior Austen Kauss and freshman Jonas Dierckx competed for Iowa in No. 2 doubles, while junior Tom Mroziewicz and sophomore Garret Dunn were in action in No. 3 doubles. Both teams took early 4-1 leads, but couldn’t hold on as Northwestern won the doubles point. Both matches were decided by 8-6 margins.
Mroziewicz tied the team score at 1-1 with a victory in No. 6 singles. Mroziewicz cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Chris Jackman, which notched his fourth singles win this dual season.
After the Wildcats again moved on top with a one point advantage, it was Vasos who was able to notch the tying score for the Hawkeyes. Vasos defeated Sidarth Balaji in No. 2 singles by a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 margin. Vasos has a team high 11 dual singles wins this season.
With the score tied at 2-2, the Wildcats won the three remaining singles matches to leave Iowa City with a victory. Senior Nikita Zotov forced extra games in his first set, but fell to Spencer Wolf. Kauss forced extra games in his second set, but also came up short, falling to Raleigh Smith. In No. 1 singles, Bruche won his first set against No. 116 Joshua Graves. Graves won the next two sets to conclude the match.
Iowa will have another two-match toad trip for their next action, facing No. 22 Michigan (10-7, 3-2) on April 16th and No. 53 Michigan State (13-6, 0-5) on April 17th. Both matches start at noon.
Northwestern 5No. 57 Iowa 2,
SinglesJoshua Graves (NW) def. Marc Bruche (IOWA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4Will Vasos (IOWA) def. Sidarth Balaji (NW) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1Spencer Wolf (NW) def. Nikita Zotov (IOWA) 7-6, 6-4Raliegh Smith (NW) def. Austen Kauss (IOWA) 6-2, 7-6Tobias Reitz (NW) def. Garret Dunn (IOWA) 6-4, 6-2Tom Mroziewicz (IOWA) def. Chris Jackman (NW) 6-2, 6-4
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