Northwestern University Athletics
Five Wildcats Shift Focus to Individual NCAA Championships
5/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 19, 2009
Live Stats
NCAA Championships Doubles bracket
NCAA Championships Singles bracket
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- After giving it all they had in the NCAA team championship earlier in the week, a quintet of Northwestern players are ready to compete for individual titles in the NCAA singles and doubles championships in College Station, Texas. Sophomore Maria Mosolova received the top overall seed in the singles draw while Georgia Rose and Lauren Lui are competing together in doubles play for the second straight year.
The singles championship field consists of 64 of the nation's top women's tennis players. Each of the first eight players earn specific seeds while the next tier of individuals are grouped as a 9-16 seed. The remaining 48 singles players are not seeded. On the doubles side, 32 pairings make up the bracket with only the top four tandems receiving a seed and the next tier earning a 5-8 group seed.
Complete brackets for singles and doubles are available in PDF format at the top of the page.
Joining Mosolova in the singles draw are Rose, now playing in her fourth NCAA singles championship, and junior Samantha Murray, who has qualified for the singles tournament each of her three seasons at NU. Senior Keri Robison is making her first appearance in the individual championships after earning an at-large bid into the doubles field with Mosolova.
Last season, Mosolova reached the quarterfinals of the singles bracket as the tournament's No. 4 seed. After posting a 33-7 overall singles record this year with a 17-4 record in duals, Mosolova begins play at noon Wednesday against UCLA's Andrea Remynse in the first-ever meeting between the two. Mosolova has 21 wins against ranked opponents this year, including four against top-15-ranked players.
Rose, ranked No. 20 in the Campbell/ITA College Tennis poll, gets underway in singles at 11:30 a.m. against North Carolina's Sanaz Marand, who Rose defeated (6-1, 6-2) in their last meeting, a first-round match at the ITA All-American Championships in Los Angeles on Oct. 2. The senior comes into the tournament with a 26-10 record this year and will be looking to improve on her career-best round-of-16 finish as a sophomore at the NCAA Championships.
Murray, who boasts a No. 47 national ranking, is set to play Georgia Tech's Christy Striplin at 4 p.m. in the tournament's first round. Murray, who is 34-12 on the year, is the 2008 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional singles champion, taking the crown last October with wins in the semifinal and final against Notre Dame's Kristy Frilling and Kelcy Tefft, who on Tuesday were named the nation's Rookie of the Year and Senior of the Year, respectively.
Rose and Lui open doubles play Thursday against Fresno State's Tinesta Rowe and Melanie Gloria while Robison and Mosolova will face Michaela Kissell and Laura Vallverdu of Miami (Fla.).
ROSE ON ESPNU: Fans can see Northwestern's Georgia Rose featured during ESPNU's broadcast of the national championship match between Duke and California, which begins Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT in College Station. Rose's piece is slated to air during the break between doubles and singles play.
Singles First Round Schedule
Wednesday, May 20
11:30 a.m.: Georgia Rose (NU) vs. Sanaz Marand (UNC)
Noon: #1 Maria Mosolova (NU) vs. Andrea Remynse (UCLA)
4 p.m.: Samantha Murray (NU) vs. Christy Striplin (GT)
