Northwestern University Athletics
Season Recap: 'Cats Make Mark with Never-Say-Die Attitude
6/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
June 13, 2011
2011 Northwestern Final Dual Statistics
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Years from now, when the time comes to reflect on Northwestern's run of 13 consecutive Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament titles, it will be difficult for head coach Claire Pollard to look upon one with any more fondness than another. Then again, a 4-3 win over top-seeded Michigan in Ann Arbor -- one that came after the Wolverines had seized a 3-0 lead -- may just be one that stands out from the rest.
The incredible rally in the final of the conference tournament embodied not only NU's refusal to surrender until the final point was accounted for, but also the trend of receiving key victories and contributions from each and every member of the Wildcats' lineup.
Those elements, combined with strong leadership from senior and four-time NCAA singles All-American Maria Mosolova, were enough to lead Northwestern to a 22-8 record, a 13th-straight Big Ten Tournament championship and a No. 12 final ranking in the Campbell's/ITA College Tennis poll. The 'Cats advanced to the NCAA Championship round of 16 for the eighth-straight season and for the 11th time in 12 seasons, further cementing NU as a perennial heavyweight under Pollard's direction.
It was another milestone campaign for the five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Pollard, who on April 9 vs. Iowa won her 300th career match as head coach of Northwestern. By season's end, Pollard had improved her all-time mark at NU to 309-67 (.822) and secured a 20-win season for the 11th time in 13 years at the helm in Evanston. As was the case in the two seasons prior, Pollard was supported by associate head coach Jackie Holden, who was named ITA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year for her efforts on and off the courts.
Together, Pollard and Holden guided NU to a plethora of individual accomplishments worth noting:
• Mosolova affirmed her place as one of the most accomplished players to come through the Wildcats' program, becoming the second four-time singles All-American in school history. She finished with a 34-7 record as a senior to up her all-time singles mark at NU to 143-35 (.803) with a 33-3 mark in Big Ten dual matches. The 2011 ITA Midwest Region Senior of the Year and an All-Big Ten selection for the fourth-straight season, Mosolova also remained a rock in doubles play with a 20-7 dual record and a 9-1 showing in conference duals.
• Along with Mosolova, freshman Belinda Niu and sophomore Kate Turvy were named first-team All-Big Ten honorees while sophomore Brittany Wowchuk garnered second-team accolades. The trio of underclassmen finished a combined 51-21 in dual matches holding down the Nos. 2-4 positions in NU's singles lineup.
• Northwestern crowned two first-time ITA doubles All-Americans in sophomore Linda Abu Mushrefova and freshman Nida Hamilton, who won two matches and reached the quarterfinals in their first appearances at the NCAA Doubles Championship. The duo began the year by becoming the first Wildcats since 2005 to win an ITA Midwest Regional doubles title and went on to finish 17-8 on the No. 1 dual line.
• Juniors Stacey Lee and Elena Chernyakova were responsible for numerous big wins over the course of the year, with Lee holding a starting role in singles while Chernyakova remained a doubles specialist. Lee finished 15-9 in singles -- highlighted by her dramatic clinching win vs. Notre Dame in the NCAA Championship second round -- while Chernyakova rang up a stellar 20-6 dual doubles mark.
Final ITA Individual Rankings:
Singles:
No. 10 -- Maria Mosolova
No 71 -- Belinda Niu
No. 76 -- Kate Turvy
No. 84 -- Brittany Wowchuk
Doubles:
No. 10 -- Linda Abu Mushrefova / Nida Hamilton
FALL 2010
After opening its fall tournament season at the Nike Duke Invitational, NU moved on to the Furman Invite where Chernyakova and freshman Natalie Edell teamed up to win the Flight Three doubles title while Chernyakova and Turvy each accounted for fifth-place showings in their respective singles flights. The 'Cats then used a successful Wildcat Fall Invitational to prepare for the ITA Midwest Regionals at Michigan, where Abu Mushrefova and Hamilton advanced to the finals against Rachael White and Allison Falkin of Illinois. The NU tandem persevered to the tune of a 9-7 outcome, earning a berth in the ITA National Indoor Championships.
NU also performed well in singles at Regionals, with Mosolova and Turvy reaching the semifinals while Wowchuk finished as a quarterfinalist.
From there, Northwestern divided camp to finish the fall on both coasts. Mosolova, Abu Mushrefova and Hamilton were in the field at National Indoors at the USTA-Billie Jean King Tennis Center, while the rest of the squad headed to the ASU Thunderbird Invitational. That's where Belinda Niu managed to earn a runner-up finish, falling only to 54th-ranked Kelcy McKenna of Arizona State on her way to a 10-3 fall singles record.
SPRING 2011
Northwestern's 2011 dual campaign did not begin as auspiciously as Pollard and the 'Cats may have hoped, as No. 9 NU lost back-to-back outcomes on the road to No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 26 Vanderbilt. But the setbacks only drove Northwestern to work harder in preparation for its qualifying-round matches in the ITA National Indoor Team Championship, which NU won handily against Harvard and Nebraska.
After an early Big Ten test vs. Minnesota that the Wildcats handled with ease, NU showed a glimpse of the team it would become against No. 6 Duke. The match came down to a battle at No. 4 singles between freshman Belinda Niu and All-American Blue Devil Ellah Nze, who managed to hang on and give the visitors a slim 4-3 win.
Two weeks later, the Wildcats entered the main draw of National Indoors as the two-time defending champion and showed everyone that they were intent on fighting to make it three in a row. NU knocked off fifth-ranked Cal, eliminating the Golden Bears from the tournament for the second straight season. But Northwestern was dealt a blow in its next match vs. North Carolina when Wowchuk suffered a hand injury that forced her to retire, leaving the Tar Heels with a 4-3 second-round victory.
Yet even without Wowchuk, Northwestern proved its mettle the following week when it gained revenge with a 4-2 win over UNC in Evanston. Abu Mushrefova and Hamilton secured their third win of the year over a top-10 doubles opponent with a staggering comeback over Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale. With the victory, NU improved to 5-2 vs. North Carolina dating to 2008.
NU continued to gain steam entering a six-match homestand that began against perennial rival Notre Dame on April 7. Any meeting between the 'Cats and Fighting Irish has the potential to be a memorable one, and the 2011 edition of the rivalry was no different. After Notre Dame battled to a 3-0 lead, Northwestern received three-set singles wins from Mosolova -- an upset of No. 3-ranked Kristy Frilling -- as well as Niu, Lee and the clincher from Abu Mushrefova.
The win was a definite building block for the Wildcats, who won 10 of 11 matches from Feb. 26 through April 17. A second and perhaps more unlikely stepping stone came in the form of a 6-1 loss in the regular-season finale at Michigan -- a source of motivation for NU heading into a return trip to Ann Arbor for the Big Ten Tournament a week later.
2011 Postseason
Northwestern opened its Big Ten Tournament with consecutive sweeps of Indiana and Illinois, setting up the seventh straight meeting between the 'Cats and Wolverines in the final match. With a large home crowd behind them, Michigan seemed poised to finally break its string of losses to NU, grabbing the doubles point and going up 3-0.
But with the knowledge that they had already come back from a 3-0 deficit earlier in the season, the Wildcats continued to fight, this time with Abu Mushrefova and Turvy preceding a Mosolova upset of No. 7 Denise Muresan. That left only Niu on the court to decide the match; with a veteran's poise, Niu imposed her will on Big Ten Freshman of the Year and 74th-ranked Brooke Bolender, avenging her loss from the week prior with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory to clinch the tournament.
Northwestern received the No. 16 seed and the right two host the regional rounds of the NCAA Championship, where NU swept past IPFW before meeting once again with Notre Dame. This time the 'Cats left little to chance, winning impressively in doubles before closing out wins at No. 1, 3 and 5 singles, with Mosolova again coming up big with her upset of Frilling.
Northwestern brought its flair for the dramatic to the round of 16 where it met top-ranked Stanford in Palo Alto. With the start of the match severely delayed, the two teams saw a back-and-forth affair go into the wee hours of the morning before the host Cardinal eventually pulled out a 4-2 victory, ending NU's valiant upset bid.
Nevertheless, NU's representatives at the individual championships went on to have successful showings, with Mosolova reaching the round of 16 and the doubles team of Abu Mushrefova and Hamilton earning All-American status in the quarterfinals.
Pollard has now coached at least one ITA All-American in nine straight seasons.
Although Mosolova's departure after four years in the top singles spot for NU leaves at least one question to be answered, Pollard can rest easy knowing she returns a battle-tested team that can never be counted out.
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