EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 40 Vanderbilt won its fourth-consecutive match, as the Commodores held off No. 33 Northwestern, 4-3, Friday evening at the Combe Tennis Center.
Vanderbilt upped its record to 5-2 on the season, while Northwestern lost for just the second time this season (8-2).
With the match tied, 3-3, Vanderbilt turned to freshman Marc van der Merwe to bring home the victory. Playing in the No. 5 position, van der Merwe clinched the win, 6-3, 7-5. The Stellenbosch, South Africa, native is 5-2 on the season, having only been on campus for a little over a month.
The Commodores began the afternoon with wins in No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to take a 1-0 lead into singles.
Gonzales Austin and Suresh Eswaran were able to hold off Spencer Wolf and Fedor Baev to win, 8-6, while van der Merwe and Jeff Offerdahl took down Mihir Kumar and Alex Pasareanu, 8-5.
Northwestern’s Sidarth Balaji and Raleigh Smith recorded the win on court No. 1 over Ryan Lipman and Rhys Johnson, 8-5.
Vanderbilt received victories in No. 2 and No. 6 singles in addition to van der Merwe’s match-clinching win at No. 5. Lipman won his 16th match of the season after defeating (Raleigh) Smith, 6-4, 6-4.
Kris Yee continued his hot streak with his straight sets win, 6-3, 6-3, over (Fedor) Baev. Yee has won his last five singles matches.
The Wildcats were able to pick up their three points in singles at the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 positions. Austin lost for just the second time in dual play, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, to Wolf, while (Rhys) Johnson lost, 6-4, 6-3, to Balaji. Offerdahl fell to Pasareanu, 6-2, 7-6.
Vanderbilt takes on Harvard Sunday morning at 11 a.m. in Chicago at the Combe Tennis Center.
Singles Results
1. Spencer Wolf (NU) def. No. 20 Gonzales Austin (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
2. No. 17 Ryan Lipman (Vanderbilt) def. No. 108 Raleigh Smith (NU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Sidarth Balaji (NU) def. Rhys Johnson (Vanderbilt) 6-4, 6-3
4. Alex Pasareanu (NU) def. Jeff Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) 6-2, 7-6
5. Marc van der Merwe (Vanderbilt) def. Chris Jackman (NU) 6-3, 7-5
6. No. 114 Kris Yee (Vanderbilt) def. Fedor Baev (NU) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles Results
1. Balaji/Smith (NU) def. Lipman/Johnson (Vanderbilt) 8-5
2. Austin/Eswaran (Vanderbilt) def. Wolf/Baev (NU) 8-6
3. Offerdahl/van der Merwe (Vanderbilt) def. Kumar/Pasareanu (NU) 8-5
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 1,3,2
Singles: 3,6,4,2,1,5
