Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Defeats Rice to Close ITA Kick-off Weekend
1/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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| #17 Northwestern 6, #21 Rice 1 Combe Tennis Center • Evanston, Ill. Results |
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern bounced back from a tough loss to No. 32 Arizona State with an impressive 6-1 win over No. 21 Rice Sunday at Combe Tennis Center. The `Cats dominated the Owls, stealing the doubles point and winning five single matches in straight sets.
Freshman Erin Larner proved worthy of her promotion from the No. 4 to the No. 3 singles spot and easily defeated Liat Zimmerman for the `Cats first singles win. Larner surrendered just one point in her dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory. The Portland, Oregon native earned her promotion after taking down a nationally-ranked opponent Saturday against Arizona State.
"Erin is playing really well and it's my fault I played her too low yesterday," Head Coach Claire Pollard said. "I don't know how high she can play, but we are going to find out."
Rice got on the board with its lone point when Barnett fell to a challenging nationally-ranked opponent in No. 24 Natalie Beazant, 6-0, 6-3.
Sophomore Jillian Rooney followed up with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Rice's Solomiya Zinko to put the Wildcats up 3-1. Senior Lok Sze Leung then clinched the match for Northwestern with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Alison Ho. "It's always good to win the fourth point for the team," Leung said.
Manon Peri put finishing touches on the victory with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Katherine Ip to increase the `Cats lead to 5-1. Freshman Alex Chatt got Northwestern's fifth singles win of the day, defeating Savannah Durkin in a second set tiebreak, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Northwestern snatched an early lead at doubles play with Chatt and Brooke Rischbieth earning a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles over Rice's Stephanie Nguyen and Katherine Ip. Moments later, Leung and Larner claimed the doubles point for the `Cats and took a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles over Rice's Zinko and Ho.
The `Cats pack their bags and travel to Durham, N.C. to take on the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils on Sunday, Feb. 1.
Results
Singles
No. 1 - Natalie Beazant (Rice) def. Alicia Barnett (NU) 6-0, 6-3
No. 2 -Manon Peri (NU) def. Katherine Ip (Rice) 6-3, 6-0
No. 3 - Erin Larner (NU) def. Liat Zimmerman (Rice) 6-0, 6-1
No. 4 - Lok Sze Leung (NU) def. Alison Ho (Rice) 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 - Alex Chatt (NU) vs. Savannah Durkin (Rice) 6-4, 7-6 (4)
No. 6 - Jillian Rooney (NU) def. Solomiya Zinko (Rice) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3,1,6, 4*, 2, 5
Doubles
No. 1 - Barnett/Peri (NU) vs. Beazant/Zimmerman (Rice) 4-4 (unfinished)
No. 2 - Leung/ Larner (NU) def. Zinko/Ho (Rice), 6-2
No. 3 - Chatt/Rischbieth (NU) def. Nguyen/Ip (Rice), 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 2*
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