University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Downs Northwestern for Third Straight Win
4/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Minnesota won its third straight match in claiming a 6-1 men’s tennis win over Northwestern on Saturday in Evanston, Ill.
The Gophers are now 5-14 overall and continued to move up the Big Ten standings at 3-4 in conference play. Northwestern is 7-14 overall and 0-8 in the Big Ten.
Minnesota received an early boost when Dino Bilankov and Sebastian Gallego pulled out an 8-6 tiebreaker victory at No. 1 doubles to clinch the doubles point for the Gophers. It marked just the second time in 19 matches this season that Minnesota claimed the doubles team point. Tobias Wernet and Chi Pham posted the Gophers’ other win with an 8-4 victory at No. 2.
Gallego and Bilankov carried their momentum into singles play as Gallego won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 and Bilankov prevailed 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 to put Minnesota ahead 3-0. After Pierre Dumas suffered a 6-4, 6-4 loss at No. 6 singles, the Gophers won the final three matches to seal the team win.
Raoul Schwark won 7-6, 6-2 at No. 1 and Pham was a 6-4, 7-5 victor at No. 5 for a 5-1 lead. Wernet rallied from a first set loss for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 2.
The Gophers continue their road swing on Sunday by taking on 32nd-ranked Wisconsin in Madison at 11 a.m.
Minnesota 6, Northwestern 1
Singles
1. Raoul Schwark (MINN) def. Marc Dwyer (NU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
2. Tobias Wernet (MINN) def. Alex Sanborn (NU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Dino Bilankov (MINN) def. Alexander Thams (NU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Sebastian Gallego (MINN) def. Peter Rispoli (NU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Chi-Lang Pham (MINN) def. Juan Gomez (NU) 6-4, 7-5
6. Andrew McCarthy (NU) def. Pierre Dumas (MINN) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
1. Dino Bilankov/Sebastian Gallego (MINN) def. Marc Dwyer/Alex Sanborn (NU) 9-8 (8-6)
2. Tobias Wernet/Chi-Lang Pham (MINN) def. Peter Rispoli/David Seyferth (NU) 8-4
3. Andrew McCarthy/Alexander Thams (NU) def. Raoul Schwark/Derek Peterson (MINN) 9-7
Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,3,6,1,5,2)
Players Mentioned
