Men's Tennis Wins Dramatic 5-4 NCAA Tournament Match Over #20 Drury
The Northwood University men's tennis team earned a dramatic 5-4 win over No. 20 Drury in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Monday afternoon (April 29).
Northwood improves to 17-4 overall with the win. Drury's season comes to an end at 17-4.
Drury took the early advantage in doubles, taking the No. 1 match 8-3. But the Timberwolves were the better team for the rest of doubles, thanks to wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Both the teams of Lorenzo Montegiorgi/Marcus Oliveira as well as Samual Walendowsky/Konstantin Zhukov each won by the score of 8-6 to put the Timberwolves up 2-1 heading into singles.
Northwood also claimed the first two points in singles thanks to straight-set wins by Zhukov at six (6-2, 6-1) and Montegiorgi at four (6-2, 6-3). With a 4-1 lead, Northwood needed to win just one of the final four matches on court. But Drury took the momentum at that point, taking a straight-set victory at No. 5 before posting a pair of three-set victories at No. 2 and No. 3 to even the overall score at 4-4.
With the overall score tied 4-4, the outcome of the contest would come down to the matchup between two of the top players in the region in Northwood's Jean Menard (fifth in the Midwest) and Andy Blair (first in the region, 32nd nationally). Blair took the first set 6-4 before Menard won set two 6-3. Both players had numerous breaks of serve in the set before things came down to a tiebreaker. Menard scored five straight points in the tiebreaker to go up 6-2 and set up four match points. On his third chance, Menard earned the point and the overall victory.
With the win, the Timberwolves advance to the Round of 16. Those matches will take place May 8-10 in Surprise, Arizona.
#35 Northwood 5, #20 Drury University 4
Apr 29, 2013 at Midland, Mich. (Gerstacker Courts)
Singles competition
1. Jean Menard (NU) def. #32 Blair, Andy (DU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
2. Gonda, Roman (DU) def. Marcus Oliveira (NU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-0
3. Kriem, Lukas (DU) def. Florian Boggia (NU) 6-0, 6-7, 6-2
4. Lorenzo Montegiorgi (NU) def. Manzanas, Sergio (DU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Nadal, Jorge (DU) def. Victor Kasak (NU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Konstantin Zhukov (NU) def. Lebedyev, Dmitri (DU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #19 Gonda, Roman/Kriem, Lukas (DU) def. Florian Boggia/Jean Menard (NU) 8-3
2. Lorenzo Montegiorgi/Marcus Oliveira (NU) def. Blair, Andy/Manzanas, Sergio (DU) 8-6
3. Samual Walendowsky/Konstantin Zhukov (NU) def. Nadal, Jorge/Lebedyev, Dmitri (DU) 8-6
Match Notes
Drury University 18-4; National ranking #20; Regional ranking #3
Northwood 17-4; National ranking #35; Regional ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,4,5,2,3,1)
NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Tournament - Round 2
Northwood Advances To Round of 16 in Suprise, Arizona May 8-10
Official: Bruce Rayce T-3:28 A-56