Northwestern Sharp on Day One of Wildcat Invitational

1/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Jan. 14, 2011

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Event: Wildcat Invitational -- Day One
Next NU Event: Saturday, Jan. 15 • 9 a.m. • Wildcat Invitational -- Day Two
Complete Results -- Wildcat Invitational Day One

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Friday may have been Northwestern's first official day of competition in the 2011 season, but it's hard to tell that looking at the results from day one of the Wildcat Invitational. NU appeared in midseason form, especially during an evening singles session in which eight different Wildcats won in straight sets against Chicagoland foe DePaul.

Head coach Claire Pollard's team opened play Friday with a set of three doubles matches against opponents from Illinois-Chicago. The nation's 30th-ranked tandem of Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton came up with an 8-4 win over Elisa Simonetti and Mariya Kovaleva, while a pair of former NCAA doubles qualifiers in Maria Mosolova and Elena Chernyakova defeated Linda Hricistova and Jana Knoppe, 8-2.

Northwestern had similar success against DePaul in another trio of doubles matches, with the aforementioned duos posting matching 8-2 victories while Kate Turvy and Brittany Wowchuk partnered to defeat Kelsey Lawson and Christiana Raymond, 8-1.

NU cruised through its singles matches in the evening session, highlighted by freshman and 76th-ranked Belinda Niu's impressive 8-1 win over Blue Demon senior Selma Salkovic, as well as Maria Mosolova's 6-3, 6-3 victory against another senior, Katarina Milinkovic.

Below is a list of Northwestern's match results from the first day of the Wildcat Invitational. A complete list of all matches played Friday is linked in PDF format at the top of the page. Day Two of the Wildcat Invitational begins at 9 a.m. Saturday when the host 'Cats face Florida International in three doubles matches.

Singles:
Kate Turvy (NU) def. Lawson (DEP), 6-2, 6-2
Belinda Niu (NU) def. Selma Salkovic (DEP), 6-1, 6-0
Maria Mosolova (NU) def. Katarina Milinkovic (DEP), 6-3, 6-3
Stacey Lee (NU) vs. Nida Hamilton (NU), 6-4, 6-4
Brittany Wowchuk (NU) def. Gia McKnight (DEP), 6-2, 6-2
Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) def. Christiana Raymond (DEP), 6-1, 6-1
Elena Chernyakova (NU) vs. Samantha Kaneta (DEP), 6-2, 6-0
Natalie Edell (NU) vs. Calie Gustafson (DEP), 6-1, 6-2

Doubles:
Abu Mushrefova/Hamilton (NU) def. Kovaleva/Simonetti (UIC), 8-4
Mosolova/Chernyakova (NU) def. Hricistova/Knoppe (UIC), 8-2
Turvy/Wowchuk (NU) def. Tsertsvadze/Sharples (UIC), 8-3
Abu Mushrefova/Hamilton (NU) def. McKnight/Salkovic (DEP), 8-2
Mosolova/Chernyakova (NU) def. Milinkovic/Gustafson (DEP), 8-2
Turvy/Wowchuk (NU) def. Lawson/Raymond (DEP), 8-1

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