Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn State
Wildcats Wax Nittany Lions, 7-0
4/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 24, 2010
Site: University Park, Pa. (Sarni Tennis Center)
Score: No. 6 Northwestern 7, Penn State 0
Records: NU (17-6, 8-1 Big Ten), Penn State (4-17, 0-9 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, April 25 -- at No. 32 Ohio State (Stickney Tennis Center), Noon CT
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Sixth-ranked Northwestern won its three doubles matches by a combined score of 24-7 and quickly took care of business in singles on its way to a 7-0 victory over Penn State Saturday on the Nittany Lions' home courts. It was NU's seventh sweep of the 2010 dual season and its fourth against a Big Ten opponent.
"I'm pleased with how focused we were as a team today," said Northwestern head coach Claire Pollard. "We're at the point in the season where every match is a chance to fine-tune our games so we have to make the most of them. We definitely did that in doubles and I thought we were aggressive in all six singles matches."
For the first time this season, Pollard teamed freshman Linda Abu Mushrefova with senior Lauren Lui at the No. 1 doubles spot and saw them confidently post an 8-2 win over Penn State's Sarah Lotto and Amy Simidian that clinched the doubles point for NU. The Wildcats' first victory of the day came at No. 3 where Samantha Murray and Kate Turvy improved to 11-1 as a dual doubles team by beating Maria Prishlyak and Michaela Stracar, 8-3.
Elena Chernyakova and Maria Mosolova completed the doubles sweep by knocking off Sarah McCarthy and Denisa Zobeidah, 8-2, at No. 2.
With Mosolova taking a day of rest from singles action, the 39th-ranked Murray slid up to her first No. 1 singles match of the year and bested Penn State's Amy Simidian in straight sets. Murray edged Simidian in a tiebreaker in the first set and held on to defeat her 6-4 in the second for the 25th victory of her senior season.
Lui made the move to No. 2 singles where she handled McCarthy, 6-3, 6-4, for her 19th dual win of the year against just two losses.
The first player off the singles courts for Northwestern was the freshman Abu Mushrefova, who took on a fellow freshman in Sarah Henderson and sent her home with a 6-0, 6-1 defeat as Abu Mushrefova moved to 3-0 in her inaugural Big Ten season.
Abu Mushrefova was followed off the courts by Turvy at No. 3 as the freshman posted a 6-3, 6-2 win against Maria Prishlyak for her third consecutive successful singles outing. Clinching the necessary fourth point for the Wildcats was Chernyakova, who defeated Lotto 6-3, 6-3 for her seventh win of the year at the No. 6 singles spot.
Sophomore Stacey Lee rebounded from a 6-4 loss in the first set against Zobeidah to claim the second set 6-1 and the super tiebreaker 10-7.
Northwestern will be back on the courts tomorrow, Sunday, when it faces 32nd-ranked Ohio State in its regular-season finale. Match time is set for noon CT.
No. 6 Northwestern 7, Penn State 0
Singles
1: #39 Samantha Murray (NU) def. Amy Simidian (PSU), 7-6, 6-4
2: #104 Lauren Lui (NU) def. Lauren McCarthy (PSU), 6-3, 6-4
3: Kate Turvy (NU) def. Maria Prishlyak (PSU), 6-3, 6-2
4: Stacey Lee (NU) def. Denisa Zobeidah (PSU), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-7)
5: Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) def. Sarah Henderson (PSU), 6-0, 6-1
6: Elena Chernyakova (NU) def. Sarah Lotto (PSU), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
1: Abu Mushrefova/Lui (NU) def. Lotto/Simidian (PSU), 8-2
2: Chernyakova/Mosolova (NU) def. McCarthy/Zobeidah (PSU), 8-2
3: Murray/Turvy (NU) def. Prishlyak/Stracar (PSU), 8-3
Order of Finish
Singles: (5, 3, 6*, 2, 4, 1)
Doubles: (3, 1*, 2)
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