Yellow Jackets Sting Wildcats, 5-2

2/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Feb. 24, 2012

Complete Results

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Score: Georgia Tech 5, Northwestern 2
Records: NU (5-4, 0-0 Big Ten), GT (5-4, 0-0 ACC)
Next NU Event: Friday, March 2 -- vs. Texas (Austin, Texas), 6 p.m. CT

EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 9 Northwestern brought home its first doubles point in seven matches, but in the end, 16th-ranked Georgia Tech was too much to overcome. The Yellow Jackets escaped from Evanston with a 5-2 victory Friday night.

"I was really pleased with the doubles point," head coach Claire Pollard said after the match, "but, credit to Georgia Tech, we got mentally behind when we came around to singles. We have some things we'll work on and adjust on an individual level before we head to Texas."

Northwestern finally earned a much-needed doubles point, but not without a fight from a few pesky Yellow Jackets. Playing together for the fourth time this spring, Belinda Niu (Portland, Ore./Lincoln) and Kate Turvy (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) asserted themselves early in an attempt to jumpstart the first point. The Wildcat tandem jumped out to a 4-2 lead on Tech's Christina Ngo and Muriel Wacker. After quelling a potential run by the GT twosome, Niu and Turvy finished things off, 8-4, giving the `Cats an early advantage.

Brittany Wowchuk (Toronto, Ont./Oakville Trafalgar) and Veronica Corning (Beverly, Mass./Pingree School/Boston College) started things off slowly in their No. 2 match with 54th-ranked Lynn Blau and Elizabeth Kilborn, falling in an early 5-2 hole. The pair fought back and made things interesting, cutting the lead to 7-5, but needing only one more game, Blau and Kilborn edged out with an 8-5 victory, forcing the team point to rest in the hands of each teams' No. 1 pair.

Paired together for the first time in three weeks, Linda Abu Mushrefova (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) and Nida Hamilton (Oak Brook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) -- who combine to form the nation's sixth-ranked doubles team -- pounced out to a quick 3-1 lead over the Yellow Jackets' ninth-ranked Jillian O'Neill and Alex Anghelescu. After the two 'Cats dropped three consecutive games, giving Tech a 4-3 lead, Abu Mushrefova and Hamilton seized absolute momentum, reeling off wins in four of the five next points.

Up 7-5, the Wildcat duo needed just one more win, but O'Neill and Anghelescu made things interesting, winning the 13th game. With the pressure on, Abu Mushrefova and Hamilton roared to four straight game points, taking the match, 8-6.

Corning kept NU's momentum alive and earned her second win while playing on the No. 4 line, downing Lynn Blau easily, 6-2, 6-2. The sophomore's victory put the Wildcats up 2-0 with five courts remaining. Following closely behind, however, Georgia Tech's Jasmine Minor gave the Jackets their first point after defeating Abu Mushrefova in two sets. Minor grabbed the first with ease, 6-1, but the junior Wildcat refused to go quietly and put up a tremendous fight in the second. However, after beginning the set up 4-2, Abu Mushrefova yielded the final four games of the match, falling, 6-4.

After hanging remarkably tough in her own match at No. 6, Nida Hamilton eventually fell to Anghelescu, 6-3, 6-3. Less than one minute later, No. 1 singles was decided when Turvy fell to O'Neill after three tenacious sets. Turvy flew by, 6-1, in the first, but O'Neill seized momentum and never loosened her grip, taking down NU's 11th-ranked player in the country, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. The win turned the tables and put the Yellow Jackets in control, up 3-2 in the team score with two matches left.

Well over an hour after the Ramblin' Wreck won its third point, the match was finally decided by the No. 2 spot. Wowchuk stole the first set with a 6-4 decision, but Kilborn escaped with the second set in hand, despite a promising 4-0 run by Wowchuk at one point. In the end, Kilborn was able to outlast the Wildcat junior, eventually taking the match, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

With the match in hand, things finally turned to No. 3 in a race to 10 points in the third set. In the first set, Niu and Ngo battled - in every sense of the word - to a tiebreaker. Niu emerged on the winning end, edging Ngo, 9-7. Ngo then turned the heat on and won the second set, 6-3, just as Kilborn and Wowchuk finished their match. The Yellow Jacket held control throughout, however, and eventually dropped Niu in the superbreaker, 10-6.

Up next, the Wildcats travel to the Longhorn state to take on a pair of top-15 squads in No. 15 Texas and No. 8 Baylor. The 'Cats travel to Austin at 6 p,m. CT on Friday to take on the Longhorns, before heading to Waco to face the Bears.

Singles (Order of Finish: 4, 5, 6, 1, 2*, 3):
1: No. 47 Jillian O'Neill (GT) def. No. 11 Kate Turvy (NU) - 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
2: No. 91 Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) def. Brittany Wowchuk (NU) - 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
3: Christina Ngo (GT) def. Belinda Niu (NU) - 6-7 (9), 6-3, 10-6
4: Veronica Corning (NU) def. Lynn Blau (GT) - 6-2, 6-2
5: Jasmine Minor (GT) def. Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) - 6-1, 6-4
6: Alex Anghelescu (GT) def. Nida Hamilton (NU) - 6-3, 6-3

Doubles (Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*):
1: No. 6 Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton (NU) def. No. 9 Jillian O'Neill/Alex Anghelescu (GT) - 8-6
2: No. 54 Lynn Blau/Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) def. Brittany Wowchuk/Veronica Corning (NU) - 8-5
3: Belinda Niu/Kate Turvy (NU) def. Viet Ha Ngo/Muriel Wacker (GT) - 8-4

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