Northwestern University Athletics
Linda Abu Mushrefova Named Big Ten Player Of The Week
10/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 6, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern junior Linda Abu Mushrefova has been chosen as the Big Ten Player of the Week, the league office announce Thursday. Mushrefova went a combined 6-0 through the Wildcat Invitational over the weekend. It is the first weekly honor of her career.
On Friday, Sept. 30 Mushrefova (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) teamed up with sophomore partner Nida Hamilton (Oak Brook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) to win the doubles crown in flight `A.' Inclement weather forced the play indoors to the Combe Indoor Tennis Center, but that was not an issue for the dynamic duo. After a first-round bye, the pair posted an 8-2 win over UIC's team of Mariya Kovaleva and Haley Craig in the quarterfinal round. The semifinal match pitted Mushrefova and Hamilton against Oklahoma's Whitney Wofford and Marie-Pier Huet. The Sooners were no rival for the Wildcats either as Northwestern rolled to an 8-3 triumph.
The championship match in flight `A' sent Mushrefova and Hamilton up against South Carolina's pairing of Jaklin Alawi and Dominika Kanakova. The match would prove to be the tightest of the three, but still Northwestern was able to double up the Gamecocks, winning 8-4.
On Saturday, the location changed to the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Center in Winnetka, Ill. and the focus shifted to singles play. Mushrefova represented her team in flight `A' of that competition, as well. Her first match in that draw would prove to be closest of the day, as it required Mushrefova to come from behind against Iowa's Shelby Talcott. The Wildcat lost the opening set, 5-7, but she rebounded to take the second set, 7-6 (2) and won the decisive third frame with relative ease, 6-2 to advance.
In her next match later that day, Mushrefova made quick work of DePaul's Kelsey Lawson, 6-2, 6-1. That victory would set up a Sunday-morning showdown with Oklahoma's Huet. Again Mushrefova controlled the tempo and cruised to straight-set win, 6-2, 6-2.
All the coaches at the Wildcat Invitational agreed that championship matches in all singles draws did not take place because of time constraints on the final day.
Mushrefova and Hamilton are currently in Los Angeles for the main doubles draw at the ITA All-American Championships. The pair is currently ranked No. 3 in the ITA/Campbell's preseason doubles rankings.
The last Northwestern women's tennis player to garner Big Ten Player of the Week honors was Maria Mosolova on April 12 of this year.
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