Northwestern
Minnesota
Wildcats Bury Gophers, 7-0
4/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 10, 2004
Northwestern-Minnesota Results
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EVANSTON, Ill.--What a difference a year can make.
Northwestern's ninth-ranked women's tennis team, which lost to Minnesota 4-3 in 2003 for one of its two losses in the Big Ten, took the reigns today in its dominating 7-0 win over the Golden Gophers at Combe Tennis Center.
The victory, which improves the Wildcats to 14-4 (4-1 Big Ten), keeps the team's hopes alive for a top-seed for the Big Ten Championship. Meanwhile, Minnesota, winner of last year's regular season, fell to 2-15 (0-6).
"Minnesota has a strong lineup at the top," said head coach Claire Pollard. "So I thought we did a great job by coming through with the sweep."
NU began the match with a shutout in doubles for the first point. Connie Chiang (Oshkosh, Wis./Oshkosh West) and Andrea Yung (San Marino, Calif./San Marino) were the first duo to finish, breezing past Emily Bezek and Shelby Rohrer 8-0 at No. 3.
Second-ranked Cristelle Grier (Surrey, England/Epsom) and Jessica Rush (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School) came next with an 8-5 decision over Angela Buergis and Nischela Reddy at No. 1 to clinch, and then Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) followed suit by topping Ida Malmberg and Lindsay Risebrough 8-4 at No. 2.
Singles went quickly for the 'Cats. Yung and Ruth Barnes (Cambridge, England/Hills Road Sixth Form College) each stormed to 6-0, 6-0 wins over their opponents. Not long after, Prousis broke down Malmberg 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3 to clinch the match for Northwestern in about 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Grier and Peisel finished next; their wins at No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, gave NU a 6-0 advantage. As a result, the closing match fell to Rush, who rallied to edge Reddy 6-7 (3), 6-1, 1-0 (7) at No. 2 to complete the nine-match sweep for NU.
The Wildcats will next face No. 32 Iowa at 11 a.m. April 11 at Combe Tennis Center.
No. 9 Northwestern 7, Minnesota 0
Singles
No. 1 -- #3 Cristelle Grier (NU) def. Angela Buergis (UM), 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 -- #55 Jessica Rush (NU) def. Nischela Reddy (UM), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 1-0 (7)
No. 3 -- Alexis Prousis (NU) def. Ida Malmberg (UM), 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 -- Jamie Peisel (NU) def. Lindsay Risebrough (UM), 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (7)
No. 5 -- Andrea Yung (NU) def. Megan Steigre (UM), 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 -- Ruth Barnes (NU) def. Jenna Tellefson (UM), 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -- #2 Grier/Rush (NU) def. Buergis/Reddy (UM), 8-5
No. 2 -- Prousis/Peisel (NU) def. Malmberg/Risebrough (UM), 8-4
No. 3 -- Yung/Connie Chiang (NU) def. Emily Bezek/Shelby Rohrer (UM), 8-0
