If the 14th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats were expecting a cakewalk in their NCAA Tournament First Round match with Valpo, they were rudely greeted by a number of banana peels at the hands of the Crusaders along their path to Sunday's Second Round tilt. 

The Crusaders' impressive, muscle-flexing campaign came to a close Saturday at Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois, but not before they made the Wildcats sweat out a 4-1 win. Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) downed Fedor Baev at No. 4 singles by a score of 6-2, 7-5. In doing so, the junior made Valpo the first Horizon League team to avoid a shutout in the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament since 1994.

"I'm so proud of what this team accomplished this season. From becoming the first team in program history to win a league title to today's outstanding effort, this is a special group," Jim Daugherty, the 2016 Horizon League Men's Tennis Coach of the Year, said afterwards.

Emhardt and Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) were as energizing as they were efficient atop doubles play. Situated front and center on Court 3, they held a firm grip in their affair with Baev and Strong Kirchheimer, clutching a 5-3 edge. 

Northwestern's No. 2 and 3 doubles tandems rose to the occasion, though.

Konrad Zieba and Sam Shropshire struck first with a 6-2 win versus Dave Bacalla (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) and Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio/Poland) at No. 2. Chad Kissell (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) and Kyle Dunn (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac) left it all on the court at No. 3, but Alp Horoz and Mihir Kumar emerged with a 6-3 triumph. Because the Wildcats clinched the doubles point, No. 1 doubles play was called to a halt with Schorsch and Emhardt just three points away from their 28th victory of the season.

Shropshire, who boasts the No. 40 singles ranking in the nation, nudged Northwestern ahead 2-0 by virtue of his 6-3, 6-2 win over Kissell at No. 2.

Emhardt met little resistance from Baev in the opening set of No. 4 action, but the two went back-and-forth in the second. Emhardt eventually put the Crusaders on the scoreboard by means of a 6-2, 7-5 victory. The win signified the first point recorded by a Horizon League school since Notre Dame logged three in a 4-3 loss to Georgia in 1994.  

#57 Kirchheimer raced out to snatch the first set 6-1 against Bacalla at No. 3 before the Crusader junior turned the tide in the subsequent set. Bacalla led 5-2 in that second set, but Kirchheimer rallied to clinch the point, 6-1, 7-5. 

Trailing 3-1, Valpo needed all three remaining singles matches. 

Schorsch vs. #20 Zieba made for a compelling dynamo at No. 1. Schorsch shook off a 6-3 result in the first set to counter with a 4-1 lead in the next. Zieba demonstrated why he's in the discussion of a Top 1,000 World Ranking in singles as he utilized a number of strong volleys to even the match at 6-6 and force a tiebreaker. Tennis mastery was on display on Court 3 during the extra time as the two traded jolts of roaring ground strokes and the occasional ace to provide the pair of rowdy fanbases with plenty to cheer for. Schorsch reigned supreme in the tiebreaker by a count of 8-6 to send the bout to another set.

A just winner was never determined at No. 1 singles, though, as Northwestern claimed the match once Ben Vandixhorn finished off a narrow 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 triumph versus Gardner at No. 5. The result also sounded the horn for Dunn and Horoz in their tilt at No. 6. Horoz eked out the first set, 6-4. Dunn broke the NU junior a couple times in the second set, but Horoz responded with a break of his own. The two were deadlocked at 4-4 in that second set when play concluded.

Valpo (22-6) set a program record for wins in a season for the third consecutive year. Schorsch led the club in singles victories with 29, two ahead of Kissell, the newcomer. Dunn and Emhardt finished with identical 21-10 marks primarily at No. 6 and 4, respectively. 

Schorsch and Emhardt continue to amend the school watermark for career doubles wins each time they register a victory. The pair rounded out the 2015-16 season with a 27-7 record. 

The Crusaders bid farewell to four graduating seniors: Brian Hickey (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick), Danny Oakes (Elburn, Ill./Saint Charles North), Michael Savaglio (Kenosha, Wis./Mary D. Bradford), and Lucas Waak (Manitowoc, Wis./Roncalli). The quartet of veterans combined to win 37 singles matches and 40 doubles contests in 2015-16, a season in which Valpo captured its first-ever Horizon League title.