Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Claw Way Into NCAA Doubles Quarterfinals
5/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 26, 2006
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Northwestern's 11th-ranked doubles team of Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) advances to the NCAA doubles championship quarterfinal round after a dominating performance over California's eighth-ranked Suzi Babos and Zsuzsanna Fodor. The two kept the Bears on their heels throughout the match and automatically earn All-America honors with the 6-4, 6-2 win.
Northwestern was sharper from the start, finding the holes and keeping California on the defensive all match long. Grier and Prousis were fantastic at working the sidelines and kept Cal off balance with accurate lobs when the Bears did get to the net.
While the Bears took the first game of the match, NU rallied by taking the next three games, winning a deuce and breaking Cal in the third. The Bears took three of the next four games to tie the score at 4-4, but the 'Cats hung tough, broke Cal in the ninth game and sealed the first set with a 10th-game win.
In that 10th-game, the Wildcats took a 40-30 lead before Prousis fully extended and smashed a cross-court backhand winner to take the set.
The break between sets didn't break Northwestern's rhythm, as the 'Cats broke Cal in the first game of the second set before holding serve to take a 2-0 lead.
The Bears responded by taking the third game, but NU rallied to take three-consecutive games, extending its lead to 5-1. Northwestern dropped the seventh game, but Prousis held serve in the eighth to clinch the victory for Northwestern.
For Prousis, this is her first-career doubles All-America honor, while it is the third such honor for Grier.
The two return to action at 6 p.m. CT Saturday when they play Georgia Tech's Kristi Miller and Lyndsay Shosho in the quarterfinals.
