Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Earn Bids to NCAA Singles and Doubles Competitions
4/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 29, 2009
Complete Release -- NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships
EVANSTON, Ill. -- One day after landing the No. 1 seed in the 2009 NCAA team tournament, Northwestern learned on Wednesday that it will also send a total of five players to the individual portion of the championships. Sophomore Maria Mosolova claimed the top seed in the 64-player singles bracket while NU earned invites for its top two tandems in the doubles draw.
Singles and doubles competitions are slated to run May 20-25 at the George P. Mitchell Center on the campus of Texas A&M in College Station following the conclusion of the NCAA team championship.
Mosolova will be joined in the singles tournament by two of her veteran teammates, as senior Georgia Rose will make her fourth appearance in the NCAA Singles Championships and Samantha Murray heads to her third postseason singles competition.
NU has now sent at least three singles players to the NCAA Championships in three of the last four years.
On the doubles side, Rose earns her third career doubles bid and will compete with junior Lauren Lui for the second straight year. The 24th-ranked duo posted a 23-11 overall mark this season and a 15-7 record in dual matches on its way to the Big Ten's automatic conference bid to the tournament. Northwestern's second doubles pair of Mosolova and senior Keri Robison, ranked No. 29 in the Campbell/ITA College Tennis poll, drew an invitation thanks in part to their 22-2 dual record and their current 16-match winning streak.
This is Robison's first-career bid to the NCAA Championships.
Mosolova is 32-6 overall with 21 victories against ranked singles opponents this season. She reached the semifinals of two national ITA-sponsored singles events last fall, including the All-American Championships in October where she defeated 2008 NCAA singles champion Amanda McDowell of Georgia Tech.
Rose, ranked No. 20 nationally, is 24-9 overall, while Murray--the 2008 ITA Midwest Regional singles champion--enters the postseason with a No. 47 ranking and a 33-11 record. She held down the No. 3 singles spot in the lineup to the tune of a 12-4 mark at the position.
First on the agenda for Northwestern is the NCAA team tournament, which begins Friday, May 8, when NU hosts Miami (Ohio) at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center in Evanston. Fans can visit NUsports.com's Tournament Central for more information on the NCAA regional matches.
