Northwestern Captures ITA Midwest Regional Doubles Championship

10/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Oct. 25, 2010

ITA Midwest Regional Championships
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. • Varsity Tennis Center
Next NU Event: ITA National Indoor Championships • Nov. 4-7 • New York, N.Y.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There was plenty of purple to be seen among the last remaining players Monday at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships hosted by Michigan. NU's Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton rose to the occasion in their doubles title match, defeating Illinois' Rachael White and Allison Falkin, 9-7.

The win gave Northwestern its first regional doubles crown since 2005 and secured a trip for Abu Mushrefova and Hamilton to the ITA National Indoor Championships in New York City Nov. 4-7.

Abu Mushrefova and Hamilton appeared poised to cruise past their Illini opponents in the early going, opening a 5-2 advantage before White and Falkin came all the way back to tie things at five. Both pairs held serve down the stretch with the Wildcats managing to cling to an 8-7 lead.

That's when Abu Mushrefova and Hamilton were able to come up with the break of serve they needed for the victory, taking the match 9-7.

"It's been a very good couple of days of tennis for Linda and Nida and I'm happy for them," said head coach Claire Pollard, who has three other NU doubles pairs to the title in her tenure. "They've continued to improve throughout the fall, they came out aggressive today and showed some toughness in pulling it out with something on the line."

The Wildcats also saw two players -- defending champion Maria Mosolova and sophomore Kate Turvy -- reach the semifinal round in the singles draw with early victories Monday. Mosolova knocked off DePaul's Katarina Milinkovic, 6-0, 6-2, while Turvy overcame teammate Brittany Wowchuk, 6-3, 6-3.

Mosolova advanced to face top overall seed Kristy Frilling of Notre Dame and was unable to solve the Fighting Irish junior in the second set, falling 6-4, 6-2. Mosolova will still receive a wildcard bid to the National Indoor Championships by virtue of her top-15 national ranking and her ability to advance past the regional quarterfinals.

Turvy squared off with Michigan's 2010 All-American and No. 1 singles player Denise Muresan, battling the Wolverine on her home courts. After Muresan persevered in a tough first set 7-5, Turvy gained momentum in the second and took a 4-2 lead. Turvy found herself serving for the set up 5-4 before Muresan won back-to-back games to gain a 6-5 advantage.

Turvy fought back to force a tiebreaker, where Muresan broke a 2-2 tie by winning five straight points to close out the match, 7-5, 7-6 (2), and advance to Tuesday's championship match.

Northwestern is next in action Nov. 4-7 at both the National Indoor Championships in New York and the ASU Invitational in Phoenix.

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