Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
USC
Women's Tennis Falls to USC, 5-1
5/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 17, 2001
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - The Northwestern University women's tennis team saw its season come to a close in the NCAA's Round of 16 for the second year in a row. This time around, the seventh-seeded Wildcats could not earn a second victory over the 10th-seeded University of Southern California, falling to the Trojans, 5-1, at the Lincoln Tennis Center.
For USC, the win avenged a 5-2 loss to Northwestern in February at the ITA Indoor Nationals in Madison, Wis. NU ends the season with a 24-5 record, while USC marches on to meet defending national champion Georgia -- a 4-0 winner over Baylor -- in a quarterfinal match Friday.
Northwestern got behind the eight-ball early, losing the doubles point by falling at No. 1 and No. 3. Ruth Barnes and Simona Petrutiu fell to Bernadette Bayani and Maureen Diaz at No. 3, 8-5, and then Colleen Cheng and Marine Piriou lost at No. 1, 9-7, to USC's Tiffany Brymer and Jewel Peterson.
The Wildcats' downfall came in singles, where USC was able to win a trio of three-set matches to take the day. Lia Jackson lost a tight match to Anita Loyola at No. 2 (6-4, 5-7, 6-4), Marine Piriou went all the way to a third-set tiebreaker before falling to Diaz at No. 3 (6-3, 1-6, 7-6), and Shannon Duffy fell to Brymer at No. 4 despite winning the first set (4-6, 6-0, 6-3). Amazingly, it was Northwestern's first loss all year at the No. 4 position on the ladder.
Petrutiu provided Northwestern with its only point of the day, earning a straight-set win over Bayani at No. 5 (6-1, 6-2). Cheng was beaten at No. 1 by Peterson (6-2, 6-3), and Jessica Rush's match against Melissa Esmero at No. 6 was abandoned after both players had already won a set.
NCAA Division 1 Women's Tennis Championship
Lincoln Tennis Center (Stone Mountain, Ga.)
Third Round Match
Thursday, May 17, 2001
#10 USC 5, #7 Northwestern 1
Singles
No. 1 - Jewel Peterson (USC) def. Colleen Cheng (NU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 - Anita Loyola (USC) def. Lia Jackson (NU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
No. 3 - Maureen Diaz (USC) def. Marine Piriou (NU) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6
No. 4 - Tiffany Brymer (USC) def. Shannon Duffy (NU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 - Simona Petrutiu (NU) def. Bernadette Bayani (USC) 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 - Jessica Rush (NU) vs. Melissa Esmero (USC), abandoned
Doubles
No. 1 - Brymer/Peterson (USC) def. Cheng/Piriou (NU) 9-7
No. 2 - Jackson/Rush (NU) vs. Esmero/Loyola (USC), abandoned
No. 3 - Bayani/Diaz (USC) vs. Ruth Barnes/Petrutiu (NU) 8-5
