Jonathan Clark jumped out to an early lead on his opponent and claimed the first set 6-1 at 4 singles tonight. Jonathan hit some bumps in the road and struggled to finish off points in the second set. Nation Ford took set two 6-0 to force a tiebreaker. Jonathan was unable to regain his first set form as he dropped the tiebreak 5-10. Nation Ford lead 1-0 overall at this point.
Duncan Foy played 5 singles for us tonight and started strong with a 6-3 first set. Nation Ford made some key adjustments and forced the tempo of the match in the second to square it up after a second set score of 6-2. Nation Ford continued strong play at 5 and Duncan was unable to make a comeback after falling behind 8-3 and finally dropped a 10-7 decision. Nation Ford lead 2-0 at this point.
Hunter Love played 3 singles tonight and had his opponent baffled all night with his mix up of drop shots and lobs. After dropping the first set 5-7, Hunter stormed back in the second set to claim a 6-4 win in that set. The tiebreak was decided in Hunter's favor 10-5 to bring us back to a 2-1 deficit.
Drayton Wade played 2 singles tonight and stormed out to an early 5-2 lead in the first set. After a few errors Nation Ford pulled closer, but Drayton finished off the first set 6-4. The second set went Nation Ford's way as Drayton battled himself more than his opponent and dropped the set 1-6. The tiebreak was dead even all the way to the end until Nation Ford proved too much in the end and took the tiebreak 10-8 and the match lead widened back to 3-1.
The match laid on Seth Russell's shoulders at this point. If Seth were to collapse after dropping the first set 6-3, the match would have been claimed by Nation Ford with their decisive point. Seth trailed by a margin of 2-5, before mounting a massive comeback and forcing a set tiebreak. A close set tiebreak played out 8-6 in our favor and forced a 5th straight match tiebreak as we stayed alive. Seth continued to manage points and control the pace of the match and eventually claimed the match 10-8 and again narrowed Nation Ford's lead to 3-2.
As if that wasn't enough, it was on to doubles where we hedged ourselves to provide 2 strong lines. We paired up our top player, Seth, with our 6th player, Jordan, to play out doubles. Drayton, our 2, teamed up with Brian, our 4, to battle it out at #1 doubles. Nation Ford had similar pairings and it provided for some great doubles action.
The match was decided at line 2 as Nation Ford proved too much for us and claimed their fourth point. That match was decided 1-6, 2-6 and the #1 doubles line had us trailing 2-6, 1-4 when the match ended. Drayton and Brian may not have been excited to have their match stopped, but in the end it goes down as a no decision at 1 doubles.
Regardless of the loss tonight, I have never been so proud of a Northwestern team. We came ready to play a big match and absolutely played our guts out. Never have I been a part of a match with so much drama and so many comebacks as I saw tonight. This, gentlemen, is what it means to compete. Congratulations to you all!
Go Trojans!
Location: Nation Ford HS
Result: Nation Ford 4, Northwestern 2
1s: Seth Russell (NW) def Madison Ott 3-6, 7-6(6), 10-8
2s: Danny Randar (NF) def Drayton Wade 4-6, 6-1, 10-8
3s: Hunter Love (NW) def Brandon McGlohon 5-7, 6-4, 10-5
4s: Tyler Morris (NF) def Jonathan Clark 1-6, 6-0, 10-5
5s: Michael Little (NF) def Duncan Foy 3-6, 6-2, 10-7
1d: Danny Randar/Alex Mclelland (NF) lead Drayton Wade/Brian Fitzpatrick 6-2, 4-1 (unfinished)
2d: Madison Ott/Paul Hoberek (NF) def Seth Russell/Jordan Beaver 6-1, 6-2
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