April 28, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Northwestern's first-seeded women's tennis team took the doubles point then won three singles matches to beat eighth-seeded Penn State 4-0 Friday during the second round of the Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship at the Atkins Tennis Center. The Wildcats advance to the championship semifinals with the win, where they will face the No. 5 seed Purdue at 10 a.m.
On a day when Northwestern's 10th-ranked doubles team of Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) was wrapped up in a hotly contested match at No. 1, it was the other two NU teams that stepped up to claim the doubles point for the 'Cats.
The Wildcats' team of senior Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) and freshman Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) struck first, taking their fifth-consecutive match at No. 3 doubles. The two sprinted out to a 3-0 lead, and never looked back, topping Penn State's team of Leyla Morzan and Dorothy Dohanics, 8-1.
At No. 2, freshman Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) and senior Feriel Esseghir (Sarasota, Fla./Brickhouse Academy) clinched the doubles point for NU with a win at No. 2. After splitting their first two games versus Katelyn BeVard and Lauren Holzberg, the 'Cats broke the Nittany Lions' duo three times to extend their lead to 6-1. Rose and Esseghir then split the last four games en route to an 8-3 win, their ninth-consecutive victory at the No. 2 spot.
After the Wildcats had clinched the doubles point, Grier and Prousis' match versus Sasha Abraham and Jenny Shular at No. 1 was abandoned with the score knotted up at 5-5.
Northwestern's success in doubles quickly translated into singles wins as well.
No. 43 Rose, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year Thursday, extended NU's lead to 2-0 as she took a win at No. 1 singles. Rose won her first Big Ten Championship match with a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Abraham, improving her overall season record to 35-6.
The decision to play Rose at No. 1 had less to do with her or Grier's recent play and was made in order to give Rose a better chance of qualifying for the singles field in the upcoming NCAA Championship.
"We want to get Georgia into the NCAA tournament," head coach Claire Pollard said. "She increases her chances if she plays at No. 1. I think we have two No. 1-calibur players and Cristelle understands that we're trying to achieve some team goals. If we are not going to jeopardize any team success, maybe we can help some individuals also," she said.
No. 14 Grier was the next Wildcat to finish, as she took a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Andrea Niculescu at No. 2. Grier is now 34-10 overall this season.
While Northwestern took wins at No. 1 and No. 2 with ease, Penn State found success at the other positions and made the Wildcats earn everything they got.
Esseghir needed an extra game to win her first set over Holzberg at No. 5, then rallied in the second set to take the win. The senior took her sixth-consecutive win with the 7-5, 6-3 victory, clinching the match for NU.
"I think Penn State did a really good job and they competed hard," Pollard said. "We won the doubles fairly easily, but in singles I felt they came out - especially at Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 - and really made us work hard for it. We're pleased to get out of here and get ready for tomorrow."
The remaining singles still in progress were abandoned once Esseghir clinched the match.
Ghazal was all knotted up in her second-set tiebreak with Morzan at 6-6 (3-3) when the match was called. Ghazal won her first set 6-4.
At No. 3, the 41st-ranked Prousis dropped first set to BeVard, but rallied to keep her scoreless in the second set. The two were about to begin the tiebreak when the match was clinched.
At No. 4, Peisel also dropped her first set, but led Shular 2-1 when the match was clinched.
With the win, Northwestern improves to 19-4 overall this season, 11-0 in the Big Ten.
The Wildcats return to action at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 29 as they face No. 5 seed Purdue in the Big Ten Championship semifinals.
2006 Big Ten Women's Championship Tournament Results Thursday-Sunday, April 27-30 Hosted by the University of IllinoisMATCH #4 - Quarterfinal Round: 10 a.m. Friday, Atkins Tennis Center No. 1 Northwestern 4, No. 8 Penn State 0
DOUBLES: 1. #10 Grier/Prousis (NU) 5 abandoned Abraham/Shular (PSU) 5
2. Rose/Essenghir (NU) 8 Bevard/Holzberg (PSU) 3
3. Peisel/Ghazal (NU) 8 Dohanics/Morzan (PSU) 1
SINGLES: 1. #43 Georgia Rose (NU) 6 6 Sasha Abraham (PSU) 1 2
2. #14 Cristelle Grier (NU) 6 6 Andrea Niculescu (PSU) 1 1
3. #41 Alexis Prousis (NU) 5 6 0 abandoned Katelyn Bevard (PSU) 7 0 0
4. Jamie Peisel (NU) 7 2 abandoned Jenny Shular (PSU) 5 1
5. Feriel Esseghir (NU) 7 6 Lauren Holzberg (PSU) 5 3
6. Nazalie Ghazal (NU) 6 6(3) abandoned Leyla Morzan (PSU) 4 6(3)