{"id":65424,"date":"2018-01-20T15:17:40","date_gmt":"2018-01-20T21:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=65424"},"modified":"2018-02-01T18:26:33","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T00:26:33","slug":"northwestern-mens-tennis-falls-to-north-carolina-state-in-the-first-season-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/northwestern-mens-tennis-falls-to-north-carolina-state-in-the-first-season-match\/","title":{"rendered":"Northwestern Men\u2019s Tennis falls to North Carolina State in the first season match"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Athena Liu<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

The Northwestern University men\u2019s tennis team lost to North Carolina State University Thursday with a score of 4 to 3 in the ITA dual season opening game.\u00a0 But the debut wins of several freshmen players shed a hopeful light on the season prospects.<\/p>\n

The Wildcats opened their 2018 dual season with a home game at the Combe Tennis Center on the \u00a0Evanston campus. Though holding an advantageous 5-4 record against the opposing team from previous years, Northwestern had a slow start in the doubles matches. The Wolfpack, on the other hand, came fully prepared with two prior dual match victories over Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina and Winthrop University in South Carolina.<\/p>\n

\"NU<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The Northwestern University tennis team huddles for good luck before starting the first match in 2018 season against North Carolina State University.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"chris<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Sophomore Chris Ephron serving during the doubles game. He racked up 17 doubles last year and continued to play the No.3 doubles for Northwestern.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"michael<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Junior player Michael Lorenzini defending at the baseline. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"twin<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Twin brothers Igor and Ivan Saveljic, the top doubles players of North Carolina State, discuss tactics during the match.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Fasano<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
First-year college player Antonioni Fasano striving for a comeback after dropping the first set 3-6 in the No. 1 singles. match.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Chris<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Ephron takes a breath after losing the tie-break 9-7 in set one of the No. 5 singles match.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"chris<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Assistant Head Coach Chris Klingemann(left) analyzes the opponent with Fasano (right) between games. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"nick<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Northwestern freshman Nick Brookes fights to overcame NC State 6-4, 6-4 during the No. 4 singles match.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"players<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Freshmen Nick Brookes and Johannes Abrahamsen watch the last two matches where the overall score between the two teams stood at 3-2 in NC State\u2019s favor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"AJ<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Freshman AJ Joshi wins the match point in his first dual match.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"coaching\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Head Coach Arvid Swan keeps watch on five singles games competing simultaneously, the format for the dual season matches..<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"ben<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Team veteran Ben Vandixhorn, a junior, loses a close set 4-6.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"NC<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
NC State players rehash the game after celebrating their triumph with a 4-3 win over Northwestern.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"fan<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
A junior Northwestern tennis fan colors NU’s Wildcat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"quote\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\u201cWe lost the game,\u201d said Swan. \u201cBut we are not that far from being good.\u201d The Wildcats are working hard to get there.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Northwestern lost two of the three doubles matches, with the third one discontinued as soon as the score results gave NC State the point. But the Wildcats came thundering back with freshmen players Antonioni Fasano, Nick Brookes and AJ Joshi, each pulling out a winning singles match. However, the team did not get the critical fourth point with another singles victory. NC State finished the Thursday game 4-3 with three singles matches and two doubles matches. That rewrites the record between the two schools with a 5-5 tie.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis wasn’t good enough today, but there are also some positive points,\u201d said Swan.<\/p>\n

Brookes made his dual game debut challenging the experienced Ivan Saveljic. He scored the first point for the Wildcats in the No.4 singles with straight sets 6-4, 6-4, and did not lose a single serve of the match. Joshi, too, erupted with enormous energy on the court. He brought\u00a0aggressive plays to\u00a0every shot and routed NC State’s Robert Turzak in the No. 6 singles match with two 6-2 sets.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoshi just fights, makes a million balls and makes his opponent go crazy,\u201d Swan said with satisfaction.<\/p>\n

Fasano, returning with a Big Ten singles title from last fall, opened in\u00a0the match No. 1 singles spot for his first dual season game with the team. Facing Alexis Galarneau, who had just beaten \u00a0him in the doubles match, Fasano lost the first set 3-6. But the rookie managed to soar back in the next two sets by playing more offensive tennis. He completed a comeback and rallied to take down the 16th-ranked Galarneau 2-1 (3-6, 6-2, 6-2). Although NC State had achieved four points before Fasano wrapped up his debut, he still fought until the last rally to bring home a remarkable victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a special kid,\u201d said Swan after the match, \u201cHe is one of the best freshmen in college tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the outstanding seniors on the team in the 2017 class graduated, the 2018 dual season is positioned to be tougher\u00a0for the Wildcats, with no senior currently\u00a0on the player roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, we had three seniors. They were really good players and they were the leaders,\u201d recalled sophomore student Dominik Star\u00fd. This year, Star\u00fd is the second oldest player on the team. He played very competitively and lost the singles game with only a slight disadvantage of 1-2 (6-1, 1-6, 5-7) but it was the critical point needed.<\/p>\n

With four freshmen in the roster, the Wildcats now have to deal with new challenges.\u00a0 Swan pointed out that the doubles matches are one of the most significant weaknesses of the squad. The coach hoped to learn from the singles victories on Thursday and return with better energy and smoother teamwork for the following games.<\/p>\n

In Thursday\u2019s game, Swan showed great trust in the freshmen and managed to make the most of these new faces in the lineup. This impressed the opponent, as well. NC State Head Coach Kyle Spencer said that, although he had never observed these freshmen playing college tennis, he was surprised to see how energetic they were on the court. He said he\u00a0believes that, with the guidance of two great coaches, the Wildcats would have a great season just like before.<\/p>\n

For Northwestern players, youth has never been an excuse for not achieving the best. \u201cWe have very high standards for our program. We are not satisfied with losing, ever,\u201d said Swan, talking about his anticipation for an ambitious season. \u201cOur goal is to maintain our standard, to play the post season, and to be in the lead teams. None of that changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northwestern will move on to five road games and return home to host Notre Dame on Feb. 11. The players expect to hone their skills as the season continues and comeback as a better team, Swan said.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Northwestern freshman Nick Brookes fights to overcame North Carolina State\u00a06-4, 6-4 during the No. 4 singles match of Thursday’s game. (Athena Liu\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Athena Liu Medill Reports The Northwestern University men\u2019s tennis team lost to North Carolina State University Thursday with a score of 4 to 3 in the ITA dual season opening game.\u00a0 But the debut wins of several freshmen players shed a hopeful light on the season prospects. The Wildcats opened their 2018 dual season […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":451,"featured_media":65503,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,3987],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-65424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2018","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nNorthwestern Men\u2019s Tennis falls to North Carolina State in the first season match - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/northwestern-mens-tennis-falls-to-north-carolina-state-in-the-first-season-match\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Northwestern Men\u2019s Tennis falls to North Carolina State in the first season match - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Athena Liu Medill Reports The Northwestern University men\u2019s tennis team lost to North Carolina State University Thursday with a score of 4 to 3 in the ITA dual season opening game.\u00a0 But the debut wins of several freshmen players shed a hopeful light on the season prospects. 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