Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan
Lauren Lui Takes Clincher; Northwestern Beats Michigan, 5-2
2/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 17, 2008
Final Stats
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 2 Northwestern defeated the 25th-ranked Michigan Wolverines, 5-2, at Combe Tennis Center Sunday afternoon. The 'Cats won the doubles point and four singles matches, clinching the dual with sophomore Lauren Lui's victory at No. 4 singles.
The Wildcats maintain a perfect 2-0 record in the Big Ten following their wins over Michigan and Penn State this weekend and are now 8-1 overall in duals this season. Michigan falls to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten.
Northwestern started off by capturing the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3. The 'Cats made the first move with a quick 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles by Suzie Matzenauer and Maria Mosolova over Michigan's Denise Muresan and Lindsey Howard.
At No. 1, Lauren Lui and Samantha Murray fell in a tight 8-6 match to the Wolverines' Tania Mahtani and Chisako Sugiyama. They were broken early, but clawed their way back to even it at 5-5. Michigan broke again for a 7-6 lead and the 'Cats fought off four match points before a Sugiyama volley ended the match.
Within two minutes of the loss at No. 1 that evened the doubles at 1-1, the duo of Georgia Rose and Alexis Conill sealed the doubles point for the Wildcats with an 8-6 victory over Rika Tatsuno and Whitney Taney at No. 2. The teams exchanged breaks early in the match, but the 'Cats broke to go up 6-5 and held on for the win.
The Wolverines stormed back to tie the dual at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles by Chisako Sugiyama over NU's Georgia Rose. The tie was short-lived as the 'Cats regained a 2-1 lead when Maria Mosolova took No. 2 singles with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Tania Mahtani.
Momentum continued to build for the Wildcats as they captured the next two singles matches. Suzie Matzenauer extended her streak of wins at No. 6 singles to 15, dating back to last season, with her 6-3, 6-4 victory over Michigan's Lindsey Howard. Sophomore Lauren Lui clinched it for the 'Cats by defeating Rika Tatsuno 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4 within minutes of Matzenauer's victory.
Though the match was already decided in Northwestern's favor, No. 3 and No. 5 singles were still on the courts. At No. 5, Nazlie Ghazal took on the Wolverines' Denise Muresan in a tough, seesaw battle. After Ghazal took the first set in a tiebreaker, Muresan came back to take the second set 6-3. Because the dual was already won, the match went to a "superbreaker" that Muresan pulled out for a 6-7(6), 6-3, 1-0(5) victory.
The last match on the courts was at No. 3 singles between NU's Murray and Whitney Taney. Murray fell behind early 1-4, but fought back to even it at 5-5 and won the first set 7-5. The two players were on serve through most of the second set before Taney pulled out a 6-4 win. In the second "superbreaker" of the day, Murray jumped out to a quick lead and never let it go to win the match 7-5, 4-6, 1-0(7) and tally Northwestern's fifth point of the match.
Northwestern heads on the road for the next dual to take on North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Feb. 22. The 'Cats next home match will be March 7 at 6 p.m. against Wisconsin.
DOUBLES
1. Tania Mahtani/Chisako Sugiyama (MICH) def. Lauren Lui/Samantha Murray (NU) 8-6
2. Alexis Conill/Georgia Rose (NU) def. Rika Tatsuno/Whitney Taney (MICH) 8-6
3. Maria Mosolova/Suzie Matzenauer (NU) def. Denise Muresan/Lindsey Howard (MICH) 8-3
SINGLES
1. Chisako Sugiyama (MICH) def. Georgia Rose (NU) 6-3, 6-1
2. Maria Mosolova (NU) def. Tania Mahtani (MICH) 6-3, 6-2
3. Samantha Murray (NU) def. Whitney Taney (MICH) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
4. Lauren Lui (NU) def. Rika Tatsuno (MICH) 6-2, 6-3
5. Denise Muresan (MICH) def. Nazlie Ghazal (NU) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)
6. Suzie Matzenauer (NU) def. Lindsey Howard (MICH) 6-3, 6-4
