Northwestern
Iowa
No. 27 Wildcats Clip Iowa, 7-0
4/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern won its sixth consecutive conference match with a 7-0 shutout of Iowa on Saturday at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center. The 27th-ranked Wildcats cruised through doubles and won every set in singles play.
Northwestern (13-6, 8-2) can clinch the No. 3 seed in next week's Big Ten tournament with a win tomorrow against Nebraska.
"We want to go into the tournament feeling as good as we can," head coach Claire Pollard said. "We have control over that."
The Wildcats dominated up and down the singles lineup, winning each match in straight sets. Alicia Barnett set the tone with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 1 over Iowa's Morven McCulloch.
Northwestern clinched the team win by jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Erin Larner followed up Barnett's win with one of her own at No. 2 by an identical score, and at No. 6, Jillian Rooney erased an early deficit to secure a 7-5, 6-1 win.
Alex Chatt, Brooke Rischbieth and Lok Sze Leung kept the shutout intact with wins of their own after Northwestern had clinched the team victory. Chatt bounced back from an early 4-1 deficit to rattle off five straight points in the first set, and the freshman dominated the second set for a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4. Rischbieth fought off Katie Zordani at No. 5, and Leung came back in the second set to win at No. 3.
The `Cats made quick work of Iowa in doubles play. Leung and Chatt could do no wrong at No. 3 on their way to an 8-0 shutout of Aimee Tarun and Shelby Talcott. Northwestern held big leads on the other two courts, so it was just a matter of which tandem finished first. Barnett and Larner, the nation's 42nd ranked doubles team, put NU on the board with an 8-4 decision at No. 1. Doshi and Rischbieth led their match at No. 2, 7-3, when it went unfinished.
"I thought we played a great doubles point," Pollard said. "Doubles is a big improvement. We have come a long way, and that is great to see."
Northwestern celebrates Senior Day tomorrow when the Wildcats host Nebraska at 11 a.m. at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center.
Results
Singles
No. 1 -- Alicia Barnett (NU) def. Morven McCulloch (Iowa), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 -- Erin Larner (NU) def. Anastasia Reimchen (Iowa), 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 -- Lok Sze Leung (NU) def. Annette Dohanics (Iowa), 7-5, 7-5
No. 4 -- Alex Chatt (NU) def. Zoe Douglas (Iowa), 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 -- Brooke Rischbieth (NU) def. Katie Zordani (Iowa), 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 -- Jillian Rooney (NU) def. Aimee Tarun (Iowa), 7-5, 6-1
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 6*, 4, 5, 3
Doubles
No. 1 -- #42 Barnett/Larner (NU) def. McCulloch/Dohanics (Iowa), 8-4
No. 2 -- Doshi/Rischbieth (NU) vs. Douglas/Reimchen (Iowa), 7-3 (unfinished)
No. 3 -- Leung/Chatt (NU) def. Tarun/Talcott (Iowa), 8-0 Order of Finish: 3, 1*
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