Tennis: Northwestern women split another weekend, men’s squad swept by Illinois

We’ve reached the end of Big Ten play on the courts, which means our attention turns to postseason play for Northwestern tennis. The No. 57 women’s team (14-11, 6-7 B1G) have locked down the no. 10-seed in the conference tournament after bouncing back from a narrow defeat at the hands of 45th-ranked Maryland (16-6, 8-5 B1G) to beat Rutgers (8-15, 1-12 B1G) on the road. As for the men (15-13, 3-10 B1G), they’ll be left on the outside looking in when it comes to the Big Ten Tournament after dropping its must-win match to No. 15 Illinois (21-6, 10-3 B1G) on Saturday. A loss to Nebraska a month previous ended up being their undoing, as the Cornhuskers’ head-to-head wins over NU and Penn State have given them the final bid to the conference tournament.

Women’s Tennis

Friday, April 17: Maryland 4, Northwestern 3

After splitting the first two matches in the doubles portion, Neena Feldman and Marelie Raath claimed a 6-3 win to secure the first point of the contest for the ‘Cats. The decisive win from the aforementioned duo of Feldman and Raath marked their fourth straight.

However, Feldman would undo her and her partner’s efforts in her singles match, suffering a 6-2, 6-3 loss to Magdalena Baniak to even the score. Margot Phanthala found a response for NU in the form of a ranked victory over No. 101 Oliwia Orlinska to surge the Wildcats in front, 2-1.

The back-and-forth affair between the ‘Cats and Terps’ continued, as Mika Dagan Fruchtman and Emma Ghirardato exchanged wins for their respective squads. On the brink of defeat, Tamari Gagoshidze grinded out a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win on court six, leaving the contest in the hands of Diya Challa of Maryland and Erica Jessel of Northwestern at no. 4 singles.

The two traded 6-4 victories in the first two sets, but it was ultimately Challa that pushed Maryland across the finish line with a third set win.

Sunday, April 19: Northwestern 4, Rutgers 2

A convincing Northwestern win on Sunday didn’t get off to the start that head coach Claire Pollard was seeking. The Scarlet Knights snatched the doubles point with a 6-3 win on court one and a 7-6 (7-2) win on court three. However, the Wildcats sprung in front with three straight singles wins from Jessel, Maia Loureiro — who secured her first win since March 22 against Purdue — and Feldman. Zuzanna Frankowska provided Rutgers its sole singles win on the day, defeating Autumn Rabjohns in come-from-behind fashion before Dagan Fruchtman shut the door with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win at the no. 5 position.