Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Wildcats Dominate Singles in 7-0 Blanking of Badgers
3/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 13, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 1 Northwestern made quick work of Big Ten foe Wisconsin on Saturday, defeating the Badgers 7-0 in front of a spirited crowd at Combe Tennis Center to improve to 13-1 overall and 6-0 on its home courts. Veteran leaders Samantha Murray, Lauren Lui and Maria Mosolova combined to win 36 of 41 games in their singles matches as they accounted for the dual-clinching points for NU.
With its second straight sweep, Northwestern moved to 4-0 in the Big Ten this season while Wisconsin dropped to 4-9 overall and 0-1 in conference duals. Head coach Claire Pollard's squad has now won 81 consecutive duals against Big Ten opponents.
With two new-look pairings on the doubles courts, Northwestern sprinted to a sweep of the three doubles matches with the 59th-ranked tandem of Samantha Murray and Kate Turvy finishing first for the Wildcats. Leading Wisconsin's Angela Chupa and Katya Mirnova 3-2, Murray and Turvy won four straight games to gain a stranglehold on the match en route to an 8-2 victory, their eighth of the season playing alongside one another.
It was the same story at No. 2, where the newly formed pair of Brittany Wowchuk and Elena Chernyakova got out in front of Jessica Seyferth and Kathleen Salterelli by a comfortable 6-1 score. The Wisconsin duo was up an Ad point in the eighth game when the 'Cats pulled to deuce before winning one of the most extended points of the afternoon to help them take the game. NU then closed out the match, 8-2, for their first win as a doubles team since the fall season.
Lauren Lui and Maria Mosolova completed the sweep with their convincing 8-3 win over Hannah Berner and Alaina Trgovich. Up 7-3 in the match, Northwestern saved three game points before getting a winner by Lui and a double-fault by Wisconsin to close out the win.
A trio of singles matches started out in promising fashion for Northwestern with Mosolova, Murray and Lui all jumping to 5-0 first-set leads at No. 1, 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Mosolova continually frustrated Katya Mirnova with her ability to get to almost everything Mirnova sent her way, winning 6-0, 6-1 to improve her dual record to 10-4 this season.
Facing Chupa at No. 2 singles, Murray was on target all afternoon on the way to a 6-0, 6-0 victory, her ninth of the season at the No. 2 spot. As she did often in the match, Murray laced a backhand down the line for the winner on match point.
Taking on Wisconsin's talented freshman Hannah Berner, Lui finished off the first set 6-1 and, after being tied at two in the second set, won four of the last five games to take the set 6-3. Lui is unbeaten at 13-0 in dual matches this season.
Chernyakova took control of her No. 6 singles match against Alaina Trgovich late in the first set, which she held on to win 6-4. The NU sophomore took a 5-0 lead in the second and in the last game used a perfect drop shot and a deep forehand winner on the last two points to seal the win.
At No. 5, sophomore Stacey Lee fell behind 3-0 in the first set against Aleksandra Markovic before winning the next two games. After Markovic regained a 4-2 edge, Lee came out on top in an epic seventh game and followed that up by breaking the Badger's serve to tie the set at four. After closing out the set 6-4, the roles were reversed as Lee leapt to a 3-0 advantage in the second but found herself tied at five late in the set. But Lee was able to roar through the last two games to win the set 7-5 and remain undefeated in singles dual matches.
At No. 4, Turvy wore down her opponent, Jessica Seyferth, in her typical fashion through a tough first set in which both players held leads. Turvy grew stronger as the set wore on, winning the last two games after the set was tied at 5-5. The trend continued in the second as Turvy simply outlasted a challenging Badger opponent to take the second set 6-3.
Next weekend, Northwestern steps out of conference and likely outdoors to take on two of the nation's top teams on the road in No. 4 North Carolina and No. 7 Duke. The 'Cats defeated the Tar Heels earlier this year, 4-2, in the finals of the ITA National Indoor Team Championship.
No. 1 Northwestern 7, Wisconsin 0
Singles
1: #13 Maria Mosolova (NU) def. Katya Mirnova (WIS), 6-0, 6-1
2: #31 Samantha Murray (NU) def. Angela Chupa (WIS), 6-0, 6-0
3: Lauren Lui (NU) def. Hannah Berner (WIS), 6-1, 6-3
4: Kate Turvy (NU) def. Jessica Seyferth (WIS), 7-5, 6-3
5: Stacey Lee (NU) def. Aleksandra Markovic (WIS), 6-4, 7-5
6: Elena Chernyakova (NU) def. Alaina Trgovich (WIS), 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
1: Lui/Mosolova (NU) def. Berner/Trgovich (WIS), 8-3
2: Chernyakova/Wowchuk (NU) def. Seyferth/Salterelli (WIS), 8-2
3: #59 Murray/Turvy (NU) def. Chupa/Mirnova (WIS), 8-3
Order of Finish:
Singles: (1, 2, 3*, 6, 4, 5)
Doubles: (3, 2*, 1)
