Northwestern University Athletics
NU Heads to Duals in the Desert
10/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 30, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern heads to sunny Palm Springs, Calif., this weekend to play in the Duals in the Desert at Moore Tennis Academy at the Desert Princess Resort. NU is one of eight top collegiate programs in the tournament's field, competing against the likes of 2008 NCAA champion UCLA, national semifinalist Baylor and perennial top-20 programs Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, Texas and Southern California.
Northwestern is coming off a successful trip to the ITA/Wilson Midwest Regional hosted by Michigan State, where junior Samantha Murray, ranked 30th nationally, captured the singles title by knocking off Notre Dame's Kelcie Tefft in the finals. Freshman Elena Chernyakova also reached the quarterfinals of singles play, Northwestern landed one doubles team in the semifinals and another in the round of eight.
Senior Georgia Rose, who won the 2007 Midwest Regional singles crown and is ranked 11th in the ITA preseason singles polls, and sophomore Maria Mosolova, the 2008 Big Ten Player of the Year who garnered a preseason No. 6 singles ranking, did not compete in singles action in East Lansing.
Among the competition at the Duals in the Desert will be Clemson's Ani Mijacika (No. 2 nationally), USC's Amanda Fink (No. 5) and Baylor's Lenka Broosova (No. 8). A year ago, Northwestern left the tournament with a total of three second-place finishes between singles and doubles results.
