April 27, 2002
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Northwestern (20-5) women's tennis team will make its fourth straight championship appearance tomorrow after defeating Iowa (9-13) today, 4-2, in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championships at the Indiana University Tennis Center.
The Wildcats kicked off the match by taking the doubles point for the early 1-0 lead. Lia Jackson and Simona Petrutiu defeated Iowa's Toni Neykova and Deni Alexandrova at No. 1 (8-3). Northwestern also won at No. 2 as Marine Piriou and Jessica Rush downed Steffi Hoch and Pascale Veraverbeke, 8-2.
In singles, the Wildcats won at Nos. 4 and 5 in straight sets as Petrutiu and Andrea Yung put away their opponents. Jackson rolled past Hoch at No. 2 singles in the first set (6-0), but was challenged in the second as Hoch tied the match (6-3). Jackson rebounded in the third set to take the point for the 'Cats (6-1).
Iowa's only wins came at No. 1 and No. 6. Piriou fell to Neykova (6-2, 6-2) and Ruth Barnes dropped her match to Gloria Okino (6-4, 6-2).
The Wildcats will make their fourth appearance in the championship match tomorrow. NU meets Wisconsin Sunday morning at 11 a.m.
#1 Northwestern vs. #5 Iowa
NU 4, Iowa 2
SINGLES
No. 1 Toni Neykova (Iowa) def. Marine Piriou (NU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Lia Jackson (NU) def. Steffi Hoch (Iowa), 6-0, 3-6, 6-1
No. 3 Jessica Rush (NU) vs. Cassie Haas (Iowa), 4-6, 6-4, 2-2, abandoned
No. 4 Simona Petrutiu (NU) def. Deni Alexandrova (Iowa), 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 Andrea Yung (NU) def. Pascale Veraverbeke (Iowa), 6-3, 6-0
No. 6 Gloria Okino (Iowa) def. Ruth Barnes (NU), 6-4, 6-2
DOUBLES
No. 1 Jackson/Petrutiu (NU) def. Neykova/Alexandrova (Iowa), 8-3
No. 2 Piriou/Rush (NU) def. Hoch/Veraverbeke (Iowa), 8-2
No. 3 Haas/Okino (Iowa) def. Barnes/Yung (NU), 8-6