Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
ITA Regional Main Draw
NU Sends Pair to ITA Doubles Final
10/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 26, 2003
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Cristelle Grier (Surrey, England/Putney) and Jessica Rush (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School) continue to dominate at the ITA Midwest Championships on the campus of Western Michigan.
As the top-seeded doubles pair, they started Sunday with an 8-5 quarterfinal win over Michigan's Kim Plaushines and Debra Streifler. Later during the day, the sophomore-senior tandem added onto that with an 8-3 semifinal victory over Minnesota's Angela Buergis and Nischela Reddy.
"Cristelle and Jessica played two great matches today," said head coach Claire Pollard. "They play hard but still have fun on the court. The two are exciting and entertaining to watch."
Rush and Grier will face Illinois' third-seeded Cynthya Goulet and Jennifer McGaffigan Monday morning in the doubles championship. The match will be a partial rematch of last year's final that pitted Grier against McGaffigan, both of whom had different doubles partners.
Illinois won that match 9-8 (4).
Apart, Grier and Rush are also formidable singles players.
Today in singles action, No. 1 seed Grier toppled Purdue's Hala Sufi 6-3, 6-1. She will next compete in the quarterfinals against Notre Dame's Christian Thompson, who has made it deep into the singles main draw after earning a qualifying spot.
Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Rush outlasted Purdue's Alyssa Rodriguez 6-3, 6-7, 6-0 to set up a match with Indiana's Dora Vastag.
Both the singles quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Monday, with the championship match to be held on Tuesday.
