Northwestern University Athletics
Cristelle Grier, Jessica Rush Take on Nation's Best
5/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 24, 2004
NCAA Championships Notes for Northwestern  Download Free Acrobat Reader
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Singles BracketDownload Free Acrobat Reader
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Doubles BracketDownload Free Acrobat Reader
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EVANSTON, Ill.--Northwestern's top women's tennis players, third-ranked Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) and No. 44 Jessica Rush (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School), are set to bounce back from last week's disappointing loss to Duke when they compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships May 24-29 in Athens, Ga.
Grier (37-4) earned the No. 8 seed and will face Stanford's 56th-ranked Lauren Barnikow (32-4) at 1:30 p.m. (CT) Monday in the Round of 64. Rush (33-9) drew UCLA's 18th-ranked Jackie Carleton (18-16) and also will play at 1:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, the third-ranked NU tandem will compete as the fifth-seeded doubles team (39-5) against Georgia's 12th-ranked Agata Cioroch and Shadisha Robinson, who are 25-7 overall. Times will be determined Monday afternoon.
"The loss to Duke is behind us now," head coach Claire Pollard said. "It is a whole new competition for us, which we will take one match at a time."
Against the Blue Devils, Grier and Rush won their doubles match against No. 9 Julia Smith and Tori Zawacki 8-4 for their 10th triumph over a ranked opponent this season. The two have not lost since April 17, a streak of 10 contests.
In singles, Grier's 19-match winning streak was snapped by Amanda Johnson, the only opponent to ever beat her in a dual match (Johnson has done so twice). Rush, on the other hand, was leading her match 6-2, 5-4 before the contest concluded.
Both 'Cats seek to improve on last year's performance, when Grier made it to the quarterfinal round and Rush lost in the first round. As a pair, they were eliminated in their first match.
The opponents the two face this time around are varied in background. Barnikow comes into the Round of 64 having won her last 27 matches-mostly at the four spot-in helping the Cardinal win the NCAA Championship on Sunday.
Carleton, the No. 9-16 seed, has had an up-and-down year in which she posted a 9-12 mark against ranked opponents. She topped Grier at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships back in October.
As for Cioroch and Robinson, who are 1-1 against Grier and Rush this season, consistent partnership could pose an issue, as they have been paired with different teammates all month. Their last two contests together were losses-9-7 vs. Kentucky on April 16 and 8-6 vs. Tennessee on April 10.
"All the competitors in the draws are very good," Pollard said. "I am anticipating some excellent match-ups throughout the tournament."
Both the singles and doubles title matches are slated for a Saturday afternoon start. Live results can be found on www.georgiadogs.com.
