Jan. 19, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill -- Following a strong showing at last week's National College Tennis Classic in Palm Springs, the Wildcats head to the nation's other coast Saturday to participate in Florida State's Four Team Tournament. The ninth-ranked 'Cats will join Penn State, Jacksonville and host Florida State in Tallahassee.
"This is the last tune-up before the 'real' team season gets underway," head coach Claire Pollard said. "We still have questions to be answered and hopefully we'll get all the answers we need this weekend."
The Big Ten announced Thursday that freshman Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) was named the first Big Ten Player of the Week for 2007. Murray posted a 3-1 record at the NCTC and the honor is the first of her career,
National Collegiate Tennis Classic Recap
Northwestern spent three days in unseasonably chilly Palm Springs, Calif., for the National Collegiate Tennis Classic. The NCTC featured players from top programs such as NU, Georgia Tech, USC, Stanford and UCLA.
In singles, Murray topped UCLA's 35th-ranked Riza Zalameda 7-6 (5), 6-4, to advance to the semifinals, but fell to USC's Lyndsey Nelson.
Fellow freshman Suzie Matzenauer (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine) made it to the round of 16, but fell to UCLA's 28th-ranked Yasmin Schnack 7-6 (2), 6-3.
In doubles, the pair of sophomores Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) advanced to the semifinals Saturday, but fell to UCLA's Schnack and Zalameda.
The 30th-ranked pair of senior Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and sophomore Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) fell early in the tournament, but fought through the consolation bracket to make the consolation finals with a win over Georgia Tech's Craddock and Flower. Although the match was not played, the duo would have met fellow Wildcats Alexis Conill (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) and Matzenauer in the consolation finals.