April 30, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- They've done it! For the eighth time in as many years, Northwestern's women's tennis team has claimed the Big Ten title. In a match that defines the phrase "total team effort," the Wildcats dropped the doubles point, but rallied behind a strong singles showing to claim a 4-2 win over Michigan Sunday at the Atkins Tennis Center.
"I feel very humbled to even have won one Big Ten title, so this is just overwhelming," head coach Claire Pollard said after the win. "I give Michigan a lot of credit, they just played better than us in doubles, but I think we showed a lot of resilience and toughness to come out and play as well as we did in singles."
For only the sixth time this season, the Wildcats began the match by dropping the doubles point - albeit with the excitement you would expect to accompany a Big Ten Championship match.
Michigan began doubles on a roll, taking early leads in each of the doubles contests.
At No. 1 doubles, NU's 11th-ranked team of Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) played neck and neck with Michigan's duo of Kara Delicata and Jacqueline Lee. After falling behind 4-3, the Wildcats broke Michigan in the eighth game by winning a deuce and it was apparent the tide was beginning to turn for NU.
The 'Cats proceeded to win five of the next six games and broke the Wolverines in the last game to earn an 8-5 victory.
When NU's No. 1 team took the win, the Wildcats' other two teams trailed 7-2.
At No. 3, Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) and Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) fell to Michigan's Lindsey Howard and Nina Yaftali. After splitting the first two games, Michigan increased its lead to 7-2. The 'Cats won the next game, but fell to the Wolverines 8-3.
With the doubles point in the air, it all came down to the winner of the No. 2 match.
Senior Feriel Esseghir (Sarasota, Fla./Brickhouse Academy) and freshman Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) fell behind Michigan's Chisako Sugiyama and Allie Shafner 5-0 to start the match, but rallied to make it close.
After falling behind 5-0, Northwestern won the next two games to cut the deficit to three. While Michigan won the next three games to make the score 7-2, the 'Cats rallied using great ball placement to make the score 7-5. Northwestern's comeback was cut short as Michigan won the next game, however, giving the Wolverines a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
The 41st-ranked Prousis evened the score at 1-1 when she batted Yaftali to a 6-3, 6-1 win at the No. 3 position. Prousis, who had her previous two singles matches of the championship abandoned, used her power and shot precision to keep Yaftali on her heels. Prousis broke Yaftali four times in the second set and won on a Yaftali unforced error.
The 14th-ranked Grier then gave Northwestern its first lead with a win over the Wolverines' Elizabeth Exon at No. 2. In the first set, Grier split the first two games with Exon but rallied to win the next five and take the set. The three-time All-American dropped her first two games in the second set, but showed why she is among the best in college tennis as she settled in and proceeded to win six-consecutive games and take the 6-1, 6-2 win.
With the momentum shifting over to the Wildcats' side, the 'Cats still needed to take wins in two of the four remaining singles contests.
Ghazal then made it 3-1 Northwestern with a convincing win at No. 6. In the first set, Ghazal broke Howard four times for a 6-1 win. After sprinting out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, Ghazal lost two-straight matches but buckled down to win the fifth and sixth game and take the match 6-1, 6-3.
Esseghir then fell to Sugiyama at the No. 5 spot, making the score 3-2.
Moments later, however, Rose clinched the match by winning her 29th-straight singles contest.
After playing to a 3-3 tie in the first set, Rose took three of the next four matches to claim the set. She put an exclamation point on the first-set win with a cross court winner versus Delicata. She then split her first two games of the second set, but won five-straight games to win the match 6-4, 6-1 and clinch NU's eighth-straight Big Ten title.
While the 'Cats surely will take some time to reflect on their accomplishment, they have by no means met all their goals for this season. NU now awaits its selection in the NCAA Championships. The selection show will air at 7:30 Wednesday, May 3 on ESPNEWS.
DOUBLES: 1. #10 Grier/Prousis (NU) 8 #30 Delicata/Streifler (MICH) 52. Shafner/Sugiyama (MICH) 8 Rose/Esseghir (NU) 5
3. Howard/Yaftali (MICH) 8 Peisel/Ghazal (NU) 3
SINGLES: 1. #43 Georgia Rose (NU) 6 6 Kara Delicata (MICH) 4 1
2. #14 Cristelle Grier (NU) 6 6 Elizabeth Exon (MICH) 1 2
3. #41 Alexis Prousis (NU) 6 6 Nina Yaftali (MICH) 3 1
4. Jamie Peisel (NU) 6 4 abd. Debra Streifler (MICH) 4 3
5. Chisako Sugiyama (MICH) 7 6 Feriel Essenghir (NU) 5 2
6. Nazlie Ghazal (NU) 6 6 Lindsey Howard (MICH) 1 3