Northwestern University Athletics
Friday, April 5
Evanston, Ill.
4:30 p.m. CT
Northwestern
4
vs
3
Wisconsin
Photo by: Mary Grace Grabill/Northwestern Athletics
Women's Tennis Beats Minnesota, Splits Weekend
4/7/2024 5:15:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - No. 37 Northwestern split a pair of matches this weekend, falling 4-3 to No. 30 Wisconsin on Friday at home before sweeping Minnesota 7-0 on Sunday in Minneapolis. The weekend moved the 'Cats to 14-6 overall, including a 5-2 mark in conference play.
To begin Friday's match against the Badgers (16-2, 7-0 B1G), the 'Cats earned the first advantage by taking the doubles point. The No. 39 pairing of Justine Leong and Christina Hand beat their opponents 6-0, then Maria Shusharina and Britany Lau combined for a 6-2 win to lock up the point and put Northwestern up 1-0.
Shusharina's afternoon continued with another victory, this one at #1 singles, where she defeated her opponent 6-3, 6-0. Wisconsin took the next two points at the second and fifth courts to put themselves on the board and knot the match at two apiece. The Badgers then took the lead with a victory at #6, but Hand evened things out again with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at #4. The match came down to #3 singles, where Sydney Pratt battled Wisconsin's Taylor Cataldi. Though both sets went nearly to the wire, Cataldi edged out a 7-5, 6-4 win to claim the seventh point of the match, giving Wisconsin a 4-3 victory.
The 'Cats' weekend continued in Minneapolis, where they took on the Gophers (10-9, 3-4 B1G) Sunday afternoon. Once again, Northwestern clinched the doubles point with victories from Hand and Leong (6-1) as well as Lau and Shusharina (6-1).
Up 1-0, the team's dominance continued into the singles round. Lau finished first with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at the sixth position. She was followed by Leong (6-3, 6-4) and then Hand, who clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at #4 singles. Pratt and Kiley Rabjohns both played out super tiebreak sets to win their matches - Pratt 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 11-9 and Rabjohns 6-4, 1-6, 13-11. Finally, Shusharina completed her perfect weekend with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at #1 to secure the 7-0 sweep for Northwestern.
Up next for the Wildcats is a pair of home dual matches against Purdue and Indiana. Friday, they'll take on the Boilermakers at 4:30 p.m., then Sunday they'll face the Hoosiers at noon.
To begin Friday's match against the Badgers (16-2, 7-0 B1G), the 'Cats earned the first advantage by taking the doubles point. The No. 39 pairing of Justine Leong and Christina Hand beat their opponents 6-0, then Maria Shusharina and Britany Lau combined for a 6-2 win to lock up the point and put Northwestern up 1-0.
Shusharina's afternoon continued with another victory, this one at #1 singles, where she defeated her opponent 6-3, 6-0. Wisconsin took the next two points at the second and fifth courts to put themselves on the board and knot the match at two apiece. The Badgers then took the lead with a victory at #6, but Hand evened things out again with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at #4. The match came down to #3 singles, where Sydney Pratt battled Wisconsin's Taylor Cataldi. Though both sets went nearly to the wire, Cataldi edged out a 7-5, 6-4 win to claim the seventh point of the match, giving Wisconsin a 4-3 victory.
The 'Cats' weekend continued in Minneapolis, where they took on the Gophers (10-9, 3-4 B1G) Sunday afternoon. Once again, Northwestern clinched the doubles point with victories from Hand and Leong (6-1) as well as Lau and Shusharina (6-1).
Up 1-0, the team's dominance continued into the singles round. Lau finished first with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at the sixth position. She was followed by Leong (6-3, 6-4) and then Hand, who clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at #4 singles. Pratt and Kiley Rabjohns both played out super tiebreak sets to win their matches - Pratt 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 11-9 and Rabjohns 6-4, 1-6, 13-11. Finally, Shusharina completed her perfect weekend with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at #1 to secure the 7-0 sweep for Northwestern.
Up next for the Wildcats is a pair of home dual matches against Purdue and Indiana. Friday, they'll take on the Boilermakers at 4:30 p.m., then Sunday they'll face the Hoosiers at noon.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3
#1 Singles Match
12
Alina Mukhortova / 0 [WISC]
30
66
#2 Singles Match
12
Maria Sholokhova / 0 (78/-) [WISC]
66
21
#3 Singles Match
12
Taylor Cataldi / 0 [WISC]
76
54
#4 Singles Match
12
Xinyu Cai / 0 [WISC]
33
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Ariel Johnson / 0 [WISC]
66
22
#6 Singles Match
12
Rosie Garcia Gross / 0 [WISC]
66
34
Order of Finish:
1,2,5,6,4,3
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
David G. Kabiller NU for Life Program - 2025 Video
Tuesday, August 19
This is Northwestern Athletics | 2024-25 Recap
Tuesday, August 19
Northwestern Tennis | New Locker Room Virtual Tour
Wednesday, October 11
Georgia Rose Full Speech | 2022 Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame Induction
Monday, September 19
