EVANSTON, Ill. – In the final tune-up before SEC play begins, Vanderbilt men’s tennis fell to Northwestern 7-0 on Friday at the Combe Tennis Center.
In doubles play, Northwestern earned the first point of the day with a 6-1 win over Billy Rowe and Panu Virtanen on court 1 and a 6-2 victory over George Harwell and Macsen Sisam at No. 3.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 3-0 when Trice Pickens beat Virtanen 7-6, 6-2 on court 5 and Steven Forman defeated Rowe in straight sets at No. 2, 6-4, 6-3.
Northwestern was poised to win the match at No. 6 where Marcus Ferreira fell in the first set 4-6 and dropped the first five games of the second set. But Ferreira battled back and took the next five games to tie it up at 5-5 and went on to win the tiebreaker to force a third set.
Behind Ferreira’s comeback, each of the final four matches went to the final set. But the Wildcats took all four.
Chris Ephron defeated Sisman at No. 4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 while Nick Brookes beat Max Freeman 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, and Dominik Stary topped Harwell at No. 1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Ferreira dropped his third set 6-1.
Next up for the Commodores is a trip to Baton Rouge to take on LSU at 5 p.m. Friday. Vanderbilt then returns home March 1 for a noon start against Texas A&M.
Keep up with the Commodores at home by following @VandyMTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
