EVANSTON, Ill. – The Saint Joseph's men's tennis team opened up its spring slate at Northwestern on Friday night, falling to the Wildcats by a 7-0 score.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Northwestern took the early lead via the doubles point with wins in the second and third flights.  Othman Bezzaz and Ernesto Ruy took a 6-3 result in the top flight for the Hawks, while Matthew Cizmarik and Matthew Dubas battled to the end in the third doubles flight before falling, 7-6 (5).
 
The hosts clinched the match with wins in all six singles flights.  Dubas came from a set down to force a third set in the fifth flight, while two Hawks forced their matches to supertiebreakers; Justus Agbo rallied to win the second set and force a breaker in the first flight, and Othman Bezzaz did the same in the third.

HAWK TALK
"Tonight, the young Hawks battled Northwestern, a top-50 program," head coach Jeff Puhan said.  "The score might say 7-0, but we had chances to win the doubles point, and then we battled and lost three three-set matches.  We showed our youth out there, but we will learn and grow.  Now our focus is on Illinois State tomorrow."

UP NEXT
The Hawks will take on Illinois State on Saturday.
 
RESULTS
 
Northwestern 7, Saint Joseph's 0
 
Doubles
1. Othman Bezzaz / Ernesto Ruy (Saint Joseph's) def. Greyson Casey / Felix Nordby (Northwestern), 6-3
2. Saiprakash Goli / Chad Miller (NU) def. Justus Agbo / Santiago Valle (SJU), 6-3
3. Nick Herdoiza / Vincent Yang (NU) def. Matthew Cizmarik / Matthew Dubas (SJU), 7-6 (5)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
 
Singles
1. Casey (NU) def. Agbo (SJU), 6-3, 6-7 (6), 10-3 (STB)
2. Goli (NU) def. Ruy (SJU), 6-3, 6-1
3. Nordby (NU) def. Bezzaz (SJU), 6-2, 5-7, 10-6 (STB)
4. Max Bengtsson (NU) def. Valle (SJU), 6-4, 6-2
5. Miller (NU) def. Dubas (SJU), 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
6. Yang (NU) def. Cizmarik (SJU), 7-6 (4), 6-1
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 6, 5, 3, 1