Northwestern
Miami
NU Coasts Into Second Round at Indoor Team Championship
2/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 13, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Top-seeded Northwestern breezed past No. 15 Miami (Fla.), 6-1, in its opening-round match at the ITA Indoor Team Championship Friday at Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wis. The 'Cats are set to hit the courts again at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday when they will face eighth-seeded Duke, which handed host Wisconsin a 4-0 first-round loss.
The win improves Northwestern's dual record to 4-0 while the Hurricanes (6-1) suffered their first loss of the season.
Fans can receive live updates of all matches courtesy of Wisconsin's Indoor Team Championship blog.
NU got off to an auspicious start in doubles action, where sophomore Maria Mosolova and senior Keri Robison posted the first win of the day for Northwestern, an 8-4 decision against Bianca Eichkorn and Michaela Kissell. Not long after, freshman Elena Chernyakova and junior Samantha Murray clinched the doubles point for NU with an 8-6 win over the Hurricanes' Gabriela Mejia and Alessa Waibel.
The No. 1 doubles match featured NU's 25th-ranked tandem of Lauren Lui and Georgia Rose squaring off against Julia Cohen and Laura Vallverdu of Miami, with the Wildcats eventually coming out on top, 9-7.
Moving into singles, senior Nazlie Ghazal went to work against Mejia, gaining a 3-2 edge before closing out the first set, 6-3. She fell behind 1-0 to start the second but eventually took control for a 6-2 win and moved to 16-4 overall in her senior campaign.
The nation's top-ranked singles player, Mosolova, led No. 8 Julia Cohen 3-1 in the first and went on to claim a 6-2 set victory. Cohen took a 2-1 lead in the second and held on to send the match to a third set with a 6-3 win. But Mosolova responded in the extra frame, earning her 19th win with a 6-4 score in the third.
Northwestern suffered a setback at the No. 3 singles position, where No. 24 Murray met 50th-ranked Kissell, who handled Murray in the first set, 6-1. Her 2-0 lead in the second proved too much for Murray to overcome as Kissell notched a 6-2 win.
But 28th-ranked Rose came back on a positive note for the 'Cats, clinching the match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, against No. 114 Vallverdu. Singles play continued with Lui picking up an impressive upset over No. 20 Eichkorn in three sets, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, while Robison put down Claudia Wasilewski, 6-2, 6-1 to wrap up the action for Northwestern.
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
With the victory against Wisconsin, No. 8 Duke improved to 6-0 on the year with a 4-0 record against nationally ranked foes. The Blue Devils boast three players ranked in the top-50 by the ITA--No. 18 Tara Iyer, No. 43 Ellah Nze and No. 48 Amanda Granson, while Reka Zsilinszka checks in at No. 56. Northwestern is 4-9 all-time vs. the ACC school but has posted dual wins against Duke each of the past two years, including at 5-2 decision in Durham last spring.
NU twice faced members of the Duke squad in fall competition, with Mosolova defeating Nze 6-1, 6-2, and Lui dropping a 6-4, 6-3 decision to Granson at the All-American Championships in September.
No. 1 Northwestern 6, No. 15 Miami (Fla.) 1
Singles:
No. 1: Maria Mosolova (NU) def. Julia Cohen (MIA), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
No. 2: Georgia Rose (NU) def. Laura Vallverdu (MIA), 6-2, 6-2
No. 3: Michaela Kissell (MIA) def. Samantha Murray (NU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4: Lauren Lui (NU) def. Bianca Eichkorn (MIA), 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
No. 5: Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Gabriela Mejia (MIA), 6-3, 6-2
No. 6: Keri Robison (NU) def. Claudia Wasilewski (MIA), 6-2, 6-1
Doubles:
No. 1: Lui/Rose (NU) def. Cohen/Vallverdu (UM), 9-7
No. 2: Mosolova/Robison (NU) def. Eichkorn/Kissell (UM), 8-4
No. 3: Chernyakova/Murray (NU) def. Mejia/Waibel (UM), 8-6
Players Mentioned
