Northwestern Falters Against No. 4 Bruins, 4-0

2/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Feb. 11, 2012

Results

2012 ITA National Team Indoor Championship Site: Charlottesville, Va. (Boar's Head Sports Club)
Score: No. 4 UCLA 4, No. 12 Northwestern 0
Records: NU (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten), UCLA (7-0, 0-0 Pac 12)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- For the second time in as many days -- and the fourth time this season -- Northwestern faced a top-10 opponent, but after upsetting the ninth-ranked team in the country Friday, the Wildcats fell to No. 4 UCLA, 4-0, on Saturday in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

The Wildcats yielded the doubles point to the Bruins with losses at Nos. 2 and 3, 8-2 and 8-5, respectively. As the No. 12 doubles tandem in the country, Robin Anderson and Skylar Morton struck first, easing by Nida Hamilton (Oak Brook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) and Belinda Niu (Portland, Ore./Lincoln), 8-2. Shortly after, NU's No. 3's, Kate Turvy (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) and Brittany Wowchuk (Toronto, Canada/Oakville Trafalgar), fell in a tough battle to Carling Seguso and McCall Jones, 8-5.

At No. 1, Linda Abu Mushrefova (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) and Veronica Corning (Beverly, Mass./Pingree School/Boston College) fought tooth-and-nail with the No. 23-ranked doubles team of Courtney Dolehide and Pamela Montez, but the match went unfinished, leaving the `Cats in a 1-0 deficit.

Down 1-0 at the turn, Northwestern put up a valiant effort, but ultimately came up short. Turvy, dealt the arduous task of facing the nation's eighth-ranked singles player, Robin Anderson, fell first in two sets, 6-0, 6-0.

At No. 4, Corning dropped her first set against UCLA's Morton, but didn't give up in the second. After tying the set at 3-3, however, Corning won just one more game and ceded the match to Morton, 6-2, 6-4, giving the Bruins an overpowering 3-0 lead in the race to four team points.

Northwestern got a boost from both Niu and Abu Mushrefova, both claiming the first set in gritty fashion. Niu powered by No. 70 Pamela Montez, 6-4, and Abu Mushrefova edged out UCLA's Kaitlin Ray in the first, 7-6 (7-5). Both Wowchuk and Corning fell behind 1-0, dropping their first sets, 6-3 and 6-2, respectively. At No. 6, Hamilton kept with Chanelle Van Nguyen through the first set, but ultimately fell to the freshman Bruin, 6-4, 6-0, sealing UCLA's 4-0 win.

Doubles
1. No. 23 Dolehide/Montez (UCLA) vs. Abu Mushrefova/Corning (NU) - 7-7 (unf.)
2. No. 12 Anderson/Morton (UCLA) def. Hamilton/Niu (NU) - 8-2
3. Seguso/Jones (UCLA) def. Turvy/Wowchuk (NU) - 8-5
Order of finish: 2, 3*

Singles
1. No. 8 Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. No. 26 Kate Turvy (NU) - 6-0, 6-0
2. Skylar Morton (UCLA) def. Veronica Corning (NU) - 6-2, 6-4
3. Belinda Niu (NU) vs. No. 70 Pamela Montez (UCLA) - 6-4, 5-2, unf.
4. Skylar Morton (UCLA) def. Veronica Corning (NU) - 6-2, 6-4
5. Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) vs. Kaitlin Ray (UCLA) - 7-6 (7-5), 1-1, unf.
6. Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) def. Nida Hamilton (NU) - 6-4, 6-0
Order of finish: 1, 4, 6*

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