MACOMB, Ill. - After spending last weekend in Rockford,
the Western Illinois men's squad will travel to Evanston for a dual
match against Northwestern Saturday (Feb. 19). The match will be held inside
the Combe Tennis Center at 5:30 p.m.
Last weekend, Western Illinois (2-3) dropped a pair of matches at the Boylan
Tennis Center in Rockford. The Leathernecks first fell 5-2 to in-state rival Northern
Illinois on Feb. 11 and then lost to Wisconsin-Green Bay, 6-1, on Feb. 12.
The No. 1 doubles team of senior Jeff Cote and sophomore Patrick Hammers won
both its matches last weekend and owns a team-best 4-1 record thus far this
season. The duo first defeated NIU's Maksym Lagutin and Maksym Bartiuk 8-6 on
Friday, and then collected an 8-7 victory over Fabian Gogolin and Craig Cox on
Saturday.
Also victorious last weekend was the No. 3 doubles team of senior Alejandro Buceta
and freshman Ben Yue. The duo teamed up for an 8-6 victory against NIU to help
Western capture the decisive doubles point. Buceta and Yue are 2-2 at No. 3
doubles this season.
In singles action, juniors Mandela Shepard and Jim Capalbo picked up victories
last weekend. Playing at No. 4 singles against NIU, Shepard bounced back from a
second set loss to capture his third victory of the spring season. Capalbo
mounted a comeback at the No. 6 position against Green Bay to pick up a
three-set victory, his second of the season.
Head coach Chris Kane recently announced the matches that will make up the Leatherneck's
Spring Break trip in Orlando, Fla. from March 14-15. Western will first play Quinnipiac
on Monday, March 14 at 3 p.m. before a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 15. The Leathernecks
will take on Youngstown State at 9 a.m. before a 6:30 p.m. matchup with Boston
University.
No. 70 Northwestern (5-2) snapped a two-match losing skid by rallying from
down 2-1 to defeat No. 68 William & Mary, 5-2, last Sunday. The Wildcats
have captured the doubles point six times in seven matches this season. NU will
play No. 44 Vanderbilt at home Friday night before hosting Northern Illinois (11
a.m.) and Western (5:30 p.m.) for a doubleheader on Saturday.
Junior Joshua Graves owns a 5-2 record at No. 1 singles and has teamed with sophomore
Spencer Wolf to record a 6-1 mark at No. 1 doubles. Last season, Graves ranked
as high as No. 82 in the Campbell's/ITA College Tennis singles poll and No. 54 in
doubles with Wolf. Meanwhile, sophomore Chris Jackman is 5-1 at
No. 6 singles and 4-1 with two different partners at No. 3 doubles this season.
The last time the two schools met, Northwestern
captured a 7-0 home victory over Western at the Combe Tennis Center on Jan. 24,
2009.
