SUPERIOR, Wis. – Last May at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minn., the Yellowjacket men's tennis team outlasted Northwestern in an epic Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) championship match, earning the program's first-ever conference title, and with it a trip to the NCAA tournament.
 
Tuesday in Superior, the Yellowjackets and Eagles met for the first time since last spring's classic. And although there was less on the line this time around, the result was no less thrilling.
 
And it came down to the same player as it did a year ago that put the Yellowjackets over the top.
 
Holding onto a 4-3 lead, the Yellowjackets' Jacob Zacharias (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) won a second-set tiebreaker, giving him a straight-sets win, and clinching the fifth UMAC win of the year for the Yellowjackets, as they went on to defeat Northwestern 5-4, improving their record to 17-3 overall and 5-0 in the UMAC.
 
It was Zacharias who clinched the win for the Yellowjackets in 2022, as well. After missing most of the season with an injury, Zacharias returned to the lineup just in time earn the clinching win for the Yellowjackets in the UMAC tournament.
 
Fast forward to Thursday, where Zacharias rolled to a 6-3 win in the first set at No. 5 singles, but had to fight off Andy Stevenson of Northwestern, who battled from behind in the second set, tying things at 6-6 and forcing the tiebreaker. Zacharias won the tiebreaker 8-6, to secure the match for himself and the Yellowjackets.

Northwestern started off with a bang Thursday, taking a 2-1 lead following doubles play. Igor Guetten Chaves (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil/Colégio Adventista) and Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin) lost at No. 1 doubles, 8-7, after losing the tiebreaker 7-4. The Yellowjackets flipped the script at No. 2 doubles, where Andre Luiz de Melo Guedes (Brasilia, Brazil/Centro de Ensino Médio Paulo Freire) and Zacharias defeated the Northwestern duo of Jack Geurkink and Collin Hemann, 8-7 (7-4 in the tiebreaker).
 
Vitor Sakakibara (São Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Saber) got the Yellowjackets even in quick fashion, rolling over Griffen Jarchow at No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-1. Guetten Chaves was victorious at No. 1 singles, taking down Stewart Morell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, and Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin) also took care of business, defeating Jacob Weddle at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-1, and giving the Yellowjackets a 4-2 lead.
 
It looked like victory was close at hand, as Luiz de Melo Guedes won the opening set at No. 3 singles, 6-4, but he fell in the second set, 6-7 (7-9 tiebreaker). He took a 2-1 lead in the third set before being injured and forced to retire, making the match 4-3 Yellowjackets and setting the stage for Zacharias to finish off the win.
 
In the final match of the day, Yellowjacket Keisuke Sato (Fukushima, Japan/Fukushima) lost to Northwestern's Darin Rupp at No. 6 singles, 5-7, 4-6.
 
The Yellowjackets are scheduled to host Bethany Lutheran College in UMAC play Saturday, April 15. The opening serve is set for 1 p.m. at the Yellowjacket Outdoor Tennis Complex.