Clemson Downs Northwestern 4-0

May 14, 2005

Athens, GA – Ryan Young, Sander Koning and Clement Reix all won in singles and double play to lead Clemson to a 4-0 victory over Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships at Athens, GA on Saturday morning. The Tigers now advance to face Georgia in the second round in Athens on Sunday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

Clemson improved to 25-10 with the victory, giving the Tigers and head coach Chuck Kriese three consecutive seasons of at least 25 victories for the first time in school history. Clemson finished 25-11 in 2003 and 26-12 last season when the team advanced to the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Northwestern, ranked 46th in the nation entering the tournaments, fell to 12-13 for the season.

Clemson won the important doubles points when Reix and Koning downed Northwestern’s Adam Schaechterle and Christian Tempke, 9-7, at number-two doubles. It was a close match throughout, as the games were tied at 3-3, 6-6 and 7-7. Clemson came within two inches of breaking the Northwestern team in the 14th game, but Tempke’s winner was just inside the back line by two inches, avoiding a match clinching point for the Tigers. Northwestern then won the 14th game, but the Tigers held serve in game 15 and finally broke the Wildcats serve in game 16 to give Clemson the match and the team doubles point.

Clemson played well in the singles play all day in the match that took two hours and 45 minutes to play. Koning got Clemson off to a strong start with a 6-0 victory in the first set over Christian Tempke at number-two singles. The two players were tied 3-3 in the second set when Koning broke Tempke twice in the last three games to win the second set and the match 6-3. Koning raised his record to 21-9 for the season and he has now won five of his last six singles matches.

Reix and Young then clinched matches within a minute of each other at number-three and four singles, respectively, giving Clemson the team victory. Reix, who had lost six of his last seven singles matches entering the tournament, was strong throughout and was never broken the entire match. He broke Chuck Perrin in game seven of the first set to take a 4-3 lead on the way to a 6-4 first set victory, then broke Perrin in game nine of the second set to take a 5-4 lead, then held serve in the next game to take the second set by the same 6-4 score.

Young clinched the team match with his victory at number-four singles with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Young, who started the year 15-0 in singles play, has now won seven consecutive matches and has a 28-7 record for the season, best on the Clemson team.

In his match against Willy Lock on Saturday, Young won the first set 6-4, then broke Lock twice within the first four games of the second set to take a 4-0 lead. He had another break in the seventh game before winning 6-2 in the second.

Clemson head coach Chuck Kriese was also pleased with he performance of his other players on Saturday. Prior to the halting of the match due to Clemson’s fourth and clinching team point, Nathan Thompson and Tommy Hanus had split two sets. Hanus had taken an injury timeout in the third set when Clemson clinched the overall team match. Brett Twente trailed 5-1 in the first set, then came back to win that first set 7-5 with three consecutive breaks and six straight game victories. He was up 3-1 in the second set when the overall match was halted. Clint Boling also won his first set over Adam Schaechterle when the match was halted.

“We played hard, consistently hard today and that was the key to our victory,” said Kriese. “We didn’t have any great highs and we didn’t have any great lows. Even if the match continued for two more hours, I felt good about our chances because we were playing consistently hard.

“Northwestern is a team of great competitors and is well coached team. They make big shots and compete the entire day. We were able to get to their third, fourth and fifth ball every time and that was big for us today.

“The doubles point was very big. At number-two doubles (deciding double points), they had a break point and we survived it and then went on to the win and that gave us momentum going into the singles. You don’t always get early momentum, but when you do you have to take advantage of it, but realize the other team is going to fight like crazy. “Overall it was a team effort. I am proud of this team today.”

Clemson 4, Northwestern 0

May 14, 2005 At Athens, GA, Dan Magill Tennis Complex

Doubles: #1 Nathan Thompson-Ryan Young (CU) d. Tommy Hanus-Chuck Perrin (NW) 8-4

#2 Clement Reix-Sander Koning (CU) d. Adam Schaechterle-Christian Tempke (NW) 9-7

#3 Justin Hoeveler-Willy Lock (NW) d. Brett Twenty-Ian Keeler (CU) 8-1 Clemson wins team doubles points

Singles

#1 Nathan Thompson (CU) vs. Tommy Hanus (NW) 4-6,6-3,1-2 (Match Halted)

#2 Sander Koning (CU) d. Christian Tempke (NW) 6-0, 6-3

#3 Clement Reix (CU) d. Chuck Perrin (NW) 6-4, 6-4

#4 Ryan Young (CU) d. Willy Lock (NW), 6-4, 6-2

#5 Brett Twente (CU) vs. Matt Christian (NW), 7-5, 3-1, (Match Halted)

#6 Clint Boling (CU) vs. Adam Schaechterle (NW) 6-2, 2-2 (Match Halted)