No. 15 'Cats Put Down Purdue, 6-1

4/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

April 17, 2011

Complete Results

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Score: No. 15 Northwestern 6, Purdue 1
Records: NU (16-6, 8-0 Big Ten) PUR (11-7, 5-3 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Saturday, April 23 vs. No. 10 Michigan • Ann Arbor, Mich. • 10 a.m. CT

EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 15 Northwestern finished its last home match in style by celebrating Senior Day with a solid 6-1 win against 59th-ranked Purdue on Sunday in the Combe Tennis Center. Senior Maria Mosolova was honored in between doubles and singles by fans, teammates and head coach Claire Pollard, who spoke about one of the most decorated players in Northwestern Women's Tennis history.

"Maria is a very special player," Pollard said. "When I asked her teammates to write down something about her, the one thing that kept popping up was her humility. She's done so much for this university and this team, and I'm very lucky to have coached her four for years. Sometimes you get players for two years, and if you're lucky, for three. But to have a player of Maria's caliber for four straight years is truly something special."

For the second day in a row, Linda Abu Mushrefova and Elena Chernyakova made up the No. 1 doubles team for Northwestern. The pair, now 2-0 on the season, ended with four straight points to knock off 35th-ranked Mara Schmidt and Jennifer Rabot of Purdue, 8-4.

The `Cats consistent dynamic duo of Maria Mosolova and Belinda Niu won their 13th of the season, beating the Boilermakers' Gisella Pere and Anna Dushkina, 8-3, giving Northwestern a 1-0 advantage heading into singles.

NU's new-look No. 3 team of Brittany Wowchuk and Nida Hamilton started off strong against Imogen Golder and Bhavani Tirumurti jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. Purdue's twosome hit their stride, however, and took a 7-4 lead, looking to shut down Wowchuk and Hamilton stormed back to tie things up at 7 apiece, forcing a tiebreak set. The Wildcat duo took the tiebreaker set, 7-4, to earn a come-from-behind victory, 8-7 (7-4).

It was a bittersweet Senior Day for Maria Mosolova as the senior Wildcat helped to win the first team point in doubles, but went down in singles in two sets to Purdue's Jennifer Rabot, 6-1, 6-3. The loss is Mosolova's first on an otherwise spectacular season. She leads the 'Cats with 17-1 record on the No. 1 line with two regular-season matches remaining.

With the score tied at 1-1, Belinda Niu stepped up to reclaim the lead for the `Cats. The freshman put the Boilermakers' Bhavani Tirumurti down in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Niu now has a respectable 17-4 singles record this season, going 9-2 at the No. 2 spot.

Kate Turvy extended NU's lead to 3-1 with her tough, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Anna Dushkina. Turvy is now 14-5 this season and 5-0 while playing at No. 4. Junior Stacey Lee followed closely behind beating Imogen Golder at No. 5. Lee won the first set easily, 6-2, and found herself up, 5-1, in the second, and in position to win handily. Golder had other plans, though, winning the next five games, going up 6-5 on Lee. The junior Wildcat quickly regained control and won the 12th game, forcing a tiebreaker set. Lee won the set, 7-3, giving her a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory, earning the winning fourth point for Northwestern.

Brittany Wowchuk won her second-straight at the No. 3 position on Sunday. The sophomore played two tiebreaker sets against Mara Schmidt of Purdue, one of them being a first-to-10. Wowchuk found herself down 5-2 to Schmidt in the first set, but came back to tie it at six all. Schmidt would win the tiebreaker, 7-2, but Wowchuk followed with a win in the second, 6-3. Because the dual had already been decided, the two fought it out to a first-to-10 set. Wowchuk won the first five points en route triumph over Schmidt, 6-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7), putting the Wildcats up 5-1.

Nida Hamilton wrapped things up for the `Cats on the day with a grueling to Purdue's Gisella Pere at No. 6. Hamilton found herself down 5-2 in the first set, but battled back to force a tiebreaker, but Pere won the set, 7-6 (7-5). Back and forth it stayed, and with the score knotted up at six apiece, another tiebreaker set was in order. The Wildcats freshman walked away with the set in a close one, forcing yet another first-to-10 scenario for Northwestern. The score was tied at 4-4, but Hamilton pulled away, beating Pere, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-5) to end the match.

The 'Cats will end the regular season on the road this weekend when they travel to the Great Lakes State to take on 10th-ranked Michigan and Michigan State. Be sure to keep up to date with for the latest information leading up to the weekend.

No. 15 Northwestern 6, No. 59 Purdue 1
Singles:
1: Jennifer Rabot (PUR) def. #13 Maria Mosolova (NU), 6-1, 6-3
2: #65 Belinda Niu (NU) def. Bhavani Tirumurti (PUR) 6-1, 6-3
3: #77 Brittany Wowchuk (NU) def. Mara Schmidt (PUR) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)
4:#101 Kate Turvy (NU) def. Anna Dushkina (PUR) 6-1, 6-3
5: Stacey Lee (NU) def. Imogen Golder (PUR) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
6: Nida Hamilton (NU) def. Gisella Pere (PUR), 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-5)

Doubles:
1: Abu Mushrefova/Chernyakova (NU) def. Rabot/Schmidt, 8-4
2: Mosolova/Niu (NU) def. Pere/Dushkina (PUR), 8-3
3: Hamilton/Wowchuk (NU) def. Golder/Tirumurti (PUR), 8-7 (7-4)

Order of Finish:
Singles (1, 2, 4, 5*, 3, 6)
Doubles (1, 2*, 3)

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