Northwestern University Athletics
Grier Falls In Quarterfinal Round at NCAAs
5/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 22, 2003
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Northwestern women's tennis freshman Cristelle Grier saw her remarkable season come to a close Thursday morning, as she fell to Jewel Peterson of Southern California (6-2, 4-6, 6-3) in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championships. The event is taking place at the Ring Tennis Complex at the University of Florida.
Peterson, the tournament's eighth seed, moves on to play fifth-seeded Amber Liu of Stanford in the semifinal round Saturday morning. The other semifinal pits top-seeded Vilmarie Castellvi of Tennessee against No. 4 Agata Cioroch from Georgia.
Coincidentally, it was Peterson and doubles partner Tiffany Brymer who eliminated Grier and partner Jessica Rush from the doubles championship earlier this week. In addition, the win allowed Peterson to avenge a straight-set loss to Grier in February.
Meanwhile, the loss ended a long and twisted NCAA tale for Grier, the second seed in the singles bracket. NCAA legislation ruled her (and NU teammate Ruth Barnes) out of the team championship just prior to the Wildcats' first-round match with Kansas State on May 10, a match that NU ended up losing 4-1. However, that legislation was reversed a week later, allowing Grier to participate in the singles and doubles championships. She then proceeded further into the singles bracket than any other Northwestern player in history.
Grier, the Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Year, had an amazing campaign in 2003, going the entire spring without losing a match before Thursday (a school-record string of 28 matches).
After dropping the first set Thursday, Grier was able to come back and win the second. However, she dug herself an insurmountable hole in the third set as Peterson broke her serve two times in a row to take a 4-0 lead. Grier was able to get back to 5-3, but Peterson easily closed out on her own serve to clinch the victory.
