Jan. 28, 2007
Results
to watch Prousis in action.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Behind a sweep of doubles and five straight-set singles victories, the ninth-ranked Wildcats blew past the 10th-ranked Duke Blue Devils, 6-1, Sunday at the Combe Tennis Center. The No. 1 doubles tandem of Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) topped Duke's fourth-ranked pair of Bercek and Plotkin, 8-6.
The win improves the Wildcats to 2-0 while Duke falls to 0-1.
The No. 1 doubles team of Rose and Prousis playing their first dual match together this season, knocked off Duke's fourth-ranked tandem of Daniela Bercek and Elizabeth Plotkin, 8-6. The 'Cats broke the Blue Devils to go up 3-2, but found themselves down 6-5 in the eight-game set. Behind stellar play at the net, the Wildcats roared back to win 8-6. Prousis returned to the court after missing the dual-season opener against DePaul.
"To lose an NCAA champion out of our line up makes a world of difference," head coach Claire Pollard said. "It was key to have her back in doubles and she gives us some experience in singles when we don't have a whole lot on our roster."
At No. 2 doubles, the team of Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) and Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) broke the Blue Devils' Jessi Robinson and Melissa Mang to go up 1-0. They held serve to take an early 2-0 lead. The Wildcats had another break opportunity at 3-1, but could not convert. They broke at 7-5 to take the 8-5 win.
With the doubles point won, the No. 3 team of sophomores Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) and Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) fought through a partial comeback by the Blue Devils' Amanda Granson and Tory Zawacki. The 'Cats broke to go up 2-1 and found themselves up 7-1. The Blue Devils fought off two match points at 7-3, but after one match point opportunity slipped away at 7-5, the 'Cats shut the door with their fourth chance to take the match, 8-5.
In singles action, Rose cruised to a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles. Rose pulled ahead early, breaking to go up 1-0 and holding to take a 2-0 advantage. She dominated Duke's Daniela Bercek in the second, holding her off the scoreboard.
Murray played a similar match at No. 2 against Elizabeth Plotkin. The first set went to a tiebreaker and the freshman was superb, sending back everything the Blue Devil threw at her. With a set point at 8-7, Murray uncorked a rocket cross-court winner to take the first set. The first frame in hand, Murray cruised through the second similar to Rose, keeping Plotkin from winning a game to take the match, 7-6 (9-7), 6-0. The freshman rifled another perfect cross-court winner on match point to seal the victory.
At No. 3, Prousis made her return to the line up in impressive fashion, dropping Duke's Melissa Mang, 6-2, 6-4. Prousis had little trouble in the first set and was off to a quick start in the second before Mang took two breaks from the Wildcat. Prousis settled down and took a 6-4 win in the second.
Lui fell in her No. 4 singles match, the only blemish of the 'Cats Sunday afternoon, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6). Lui fell behind early in the "superbreaker" to determine the third set and could not recover.
The 'Cats absolutely handled the No. 5 and No. 6 slots, only surrendering four games between the two matches. At No. 5, freshman Suzie Matzenauer (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine) cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory while Ghazal lost only one game en route to a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6
"I thought we got on a roll today," Pollard said. "We got on top early and that was imperative. We played very well and it's always nice to come away with a convincing win."
The 'Cats return to action Feb. 1 when they head to Madison, Wis. for the ITA National Indoor Championships, Feb. 1-4.