Hogs Fall at No. 48 Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 30 Arkansas fell on the road Friday night to No. 48 Northwestern, 7-0, at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill.

The match was the first of three for the Hogs in the Chicago area this weekend. The Razorbacks take on No. 71 DePaul Saturday at 2 p.m. and Chicago St. at 8 p.m.

Against Northwestern, Arkansas opened the dual-match by taking the first doubles contest to finish. The Hogs’ tandem of Colin Mascall and Blake Strode upset the Wildcats 27th-ranked team of Matt Christian and Willy Lock, 8-4. The Razorbacks could not hang to clinch the doubles point, however, as Northwestern took the matches at No.’s 2 and 3, taking a 1-0 advantage.

In singles, the Razorbacks one the first set in just one of the six matches. Freshman Gabriel Mattos claimed the first set of his contest on court three against Christian, but Christian rallied to defeat Mattos in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Four of the six Razorbacks (Mattos, Dmitry Lebedev, Dmitry Vlaskin, and Drew Sosebee) to play singles Friday were freshmen.

Strode’s match at No. 1 with Lock was even at a set apiece, 4-6, 7-6, and Lock won the super tiebreaker, 13-11, to upset the 57th-ranked Strode.

Arkansas returns to action Saturday against DePaul at the Lakefront Athletic Center in Chicago. The match begins at 2 p.m. The Hogs then take on Chicago St. at 8 p.m. For results, check www.hogwired.com.

#48 Northwestern 7, #30 Arkansas 0

February 2, 2007

Combe Tennis Center, Evanston, Ill.

Singles

1. Willy Lock (NU) def. #57 Blake Strode (UA), 6-4, 6-7, 13-11

2. Christian Tempke (NU) def. Colin Mascall (UA), 6-4, 7-5

3. Matt Christian (NU) def. Gabriel Mattos (UA), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1

4. Juan Gomez (NU) def. Dmitry Lebedev (UA), 6-4, 6-4

5. Marc Dwyer (NU) def. Dmitry Vlaskin (UA), 6-3, 6-4

6. Alex Sanborn (NU) def. Drew Sosebee (UA), 6-1, 6-4

Order of Finish: 6, 5, 2*, 4, 3

*-clinched match

Doubles

1. Mascall/Strode (UA) def. #27 Christian/Lock (NU), 8-4

2. Sanborn/Dwyer (NU) def. Mattos/Andy Nicoara (UA), 8-5

3. Tempke/Gomez (NU) def. Sosebee/Vlaskin (UA), 8-4

Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2^

^-clinched point