Northwestern
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Dartmouth
No. 12 Northwestern Breezes Past Dartmouth, 7-0
1/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 28, 2012
Results
Site: Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Score: No. 12 Northwestern 7, No. 57 Dartmouth 0
Records: NU (2-0), Dartmouth (0-2)
Next NU Event: Sunday, January 29 -- vs. Arkansas or Nebraska (Evanston, Ill.), 2 p.m.
EVANSTON, Ill.-- No. 12 Northwestern dashed past the 57th-ranked Dartmouth Big Green on Saturday in the opening round of the 2012 ITA National Indoor Team Championship, 7-0, in front of its home crowd at the Combe Indoor Tennis Center. The Wildcats will face either No. 24 Arkansas or No. 39 Nebraska in Sunday's qualifying championship.
Northwestern (2-0) made quick work of the Big Green (0-2) in all three doubles matches. The No. 1 tandem of Linda Abu Mushrefova (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) and Nida Hamilton (Oak Brook, Ill.), ranked No. 6 by the ITA, shutout their opponents, Akiko Okuda and Sarah Leonard of Dartmouth, 8-0. For the second straight match, the No. 3 doubles team of Belinda Niu (Portland, Ore./Lincoln) and Kate Turvy (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) clinched the pairs point for the Wildcats as they won against Rachel Decker Sadowski and Sabrina Stewart, 8-2.
Veronica Corning (Beverly, Mass./Pingree School) and Brittany Wowchuk (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) notched their first win of the season as a team at No. 2 doubles. Corning and Wowchuk defeated Jeri Reichel and Christina Danosi of Dartmouth, 8-2.
Niu got the first singles point of the day for the purple and white from the No. 4 position after darting past Decker-Sadowski in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0. Abu Mushrefova followed shortly thereafter with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 5 over the Big Green's Jeri Reichel.
A short time later, two other matches finished in Northwestern's favor in near simultaneous fashion. Wowchuk, ranked No. 86, by the ITA secured the match-clinching point with her 6-3, 6-0 triumph over Stewart. A minute later, Turvy, ranked 26th, finished off Leonard, 6-2, 6-1.
Hamilton was inserted into the singles lineup by head coach Claire Pollardfor the first time this season and she did not disappoint. The sophomore trailed 4-2 in the first set against Dartmouth's Shelley Capeni, but she would go on to win four straight games of her own to claim the first set, 6-4. Hamilton controlled the second frame from the outset, winning 6-1.
The final match of the day to conclude was at the No. 2 singles spot between Corning and Okuda. The first set was a textbook back-and-forth affair with Northwestern's newcomer eventually claiming a 7-6 (2) win. The second set was all Corning. The Massachusetts, native won with ease, 6-1.
The 'Cats will face No. 39 Nebraska in Sunday's championship qualifying match at 2 p.m. The Big Ten foes will square following the consolation match between Dartmouth and No. 24 Arkansas.
Singles
1. No. 26 Kate Turvy (NU) def. Sarah Leonard (DU) - 6-2, 6-1
2. Veronica Corning (NU) def. Akiko Okuda (DU) - 7-6 (2), 6-1
3. No. 86 Brittany Wowchuk (NU) def. Sabrina Stewart (DU) - 6-3, 6-0
4. Belinda Niu (NU) def. Rachel Decker-Sadowski (DU) - 6-1, 6-0
5. Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) def. Jeri Reichel (DU) - 6-1, 6-1
6. Nida Hamilton (NU) def. Shelley Carpeni (DU) - 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3*, 1, 6, 2
Doubles
1. No. 6 Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton (NU) def. Akiko Okuda/Sarah Leonard (DU) - 8-0
2. Brittany Wowchuk/Veronica Corning (NU) def. Jeri Reichel/Christina Danosi (DU) - 8-2
3. Belinda Niu/Kate Turvy (NU) def. Rachel Decker-Sadowski/Sabrina Stewart (DU) - 8-2
Order of finish: 1, 3*, 2
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