Blue Raiders fall 5-2 to No. 60 Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. - Middle Tennessee battled every match on Friday night but fell 5-2 at No. 60 Northwestern in its first road match of the season.

NU swept doubles to begin play and take a 1-0 lead in the match. Sophomore Shaun Waters and Ben Davis fell 8-2 to Joshua Graves and Spencer Wolf at No. 1 doubles. The Wildcats locked up the point after Chris Jackman and Eric Spector defeated Middle Tennessee's junior Matthew Langley and r-freshman Dimitri Pippos 8-4. Freshmen Elliott Barnwell and Joseph Cohen lost their No. 2 doubles match 8-2 to Andrew McCarthy and Tobias Reitz to complete the sweep.

The Wildcats' Graves defeated Waters 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles to begin that side of play and extend their lead to two, 2-0.

Davis continued his impressive start to his collegiate career by defeating Reitz in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 at No. 3 singles to close the gap to one, 2-1.

NU pulled back ahead 3-1 after Barnwell fell 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4 singles to McCarthy. Then Cohen, who had missed two matches due to an injury, stepped to the plate and defeated Raleigh Smith 6-3, 6-1 to put the Blue Raiders within striking distance, 3-2.

Pippos won his the first set 6-3 over Jackman but then lost the second also by a score of 6-3. He battled in the third set but could not pull it out as Jackman won 7-5 making the match score 4-2 and giving NU the overall win.

Langley rounded out play for the Blue Raiders at No. 2 singles. Langley lost his first set 6-2 to Wolf but rebounded in the second pulling out a tight 7-6 win. He could not finish the rally however falling 6-3 in the third set.

The team will head to Dekalb, Ill., where it will face Northern Illinois at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Results from Saturday's match will be posted on goblueraiders.com as soon as they become available. Complete Results #60 Northwestern 5, Middle Tennessee 2

Singles 1. Joshua Graves (NU) def. Shaun Waters (MT) 6-0, 6-0 2. Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Matthew Langley (MT) 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 3. Ben Davis (MT) def. Tobias Reitz (NU) 6-0, 6-3 4. Andrew McCarthy (NU) def. Elliott Barnwell (MT) 6-2, 6-3 5. Joseph Cohen (MT) def. Raleigh Smith (NU) 6-3, 6-1 6. Chris Jackman (NU) def. Dimitri Pippos (MT) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5

Doubles 1. Joshua Graves/Spencer Wolf (NU) def. Shaun Waters/Ben Davis (MT) 8-2 2. Andrew McCarthy/Tobias Reitz (NU) def. Elliott Barnwell/Joseph Cohen (MT) 8-2 3. Chris Jackman/Eric Spector (NU) def. Dimitri Pippos/Matthew Langley (MT) 8-4

Match Notes: Middle Tennessee 3-1 Northwestern 4-0; National ranking #60 Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,3,4,5,6,2)

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