Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Ohio State (Big Ten Tourney)
Champs Again! NU Wins Sixth-Straight Big Ten Championship
5/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 2, 2004
Northwestern-Ohio State results
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EVANSTON, Ill.--How sweet it is!
In front of a standing-room only crowd at Combe Tennis Center, Northwestern's 11th-ranked women's tennis team dominated sixth-seeded Ohio State 4-0 to win its sixth-straight Big Ten Championship.
"I am just elated for the team," said head coach Claire Pollard, whose teams have never lost in tournament play. "It is hard to put into words how great winning six in a row is, especially in front of a great home crowd."
The win was top-seeded NU's (23-4) 10th-straight. As the conference's automatic selection for the postseason tournament, the team will now wait for the NCAA Selection Show on ESPNews at 3:35 p.m. on May 5 to see what seed it will be.
Third-ranked Jessica Rush (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School) and Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) started the purple tidal wave, getting a few early breaks to garner an 8-4 win over Erica Fisk and Jackie Leskovar at No. 1. With the triumph, the Wildcat tandem improved to an impressive 36-5 for the year.
On the adjacent court, Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) battled back from being down a couple of breaks to take an 8-7 lead over Lindsay Williams and Meaghan Colville at No. 2. However, that match did not finish as Andrea Yung (San Marino, Calif./San Marino) and Ruth Barnes (Cambridge, England/Hills Road Sixth Form College) breezed past Lindsey Adams and Emily DeCamilla 8-2 at No. 3 to earn the doubles point.
Grier, ranked No. 3 nationally, also finished first in singles, routing Williams 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 to extend her winning streak to 18 for a 36-3 overall record. Her match ended almost 45 minutes before the next point, which came from Prousis at the three spot.
For the 3-0 lead, the freshman fought off deficits to eventually beat Leskovar 6-4, 6-4. At that point, Northwestern was boasting leads at all the remaining matches-Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 6. But the first to finish and clinch the championship was 47th-ranked Rush.
At No. 2 singles, Rush reeled off a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Fisk for her third victory of the tournament. Rush and her fellow senior classmates will finish their NU careers having accumulated four Big Ten titles.
"This was definitely a special event," said Pollard. "I am in awe of the team--I am just so proud of everyone."
As well as finding out its seed this week, Northwestern also will learn if it will play host to the NCAA Regionals May 14-16.
