Jan. 31, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After a 2-0 start to the dual season that included a dominating 6-1 win over 10th-ranked Duke on Sunday, the eighth-ranked Wildcats head to Madison, Wis. for the ITA National Indoor Championships. The Wildcats, the No. 8 seed in the 16-team draw, take to the court at 3:30 p.m. Thursday for their first round match against 14th-ranked and unseeded UCLA.
"It's another exciting weekend for the 'Cats where we get to play against elite competition," head coach Claire Pollard said. "We can't wait."
Last Time Out
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. In singles action, Rose cruised to a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles. The sophomore 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.
Samantha Murray's (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) match at No. 2 was similar, with the freshman blanking Plotkin in the second set after surviving a tiebreaker in the first. 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 Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) lost only one game en route to a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6.
Northwestern Notes
Northwestern is a perfect 6-0 in doubles through two duals and 50-15 overall in 2006-07. The tandem of Rose and Prousis lead the way with a 9-4 record with a win over Duke's fourth-ranked Bercek and Plotkin. Murray and fellow freshman Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) are a perfect 2-0 at the No. 2 spot while Ghazal and Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) are undefeated at No. 3.
The 'Cats started the winter season with the National Collegiate Tennis Classic (NCTC) held in Palm Springs, Calif. NU went up against top teams such as Georgia Tech, UCLA, USC, Stanford and Texas. The Wildcats had a successful weekend with Murray leading the way. The freshman earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors for her 3-1 record with two wins over ranked opponents. Murray advanced to the round of 16 after defeating Stanford's Leija Hodzic in three sets. The freshman then went on to defeat Georgia Tech's No. 25 Kirsten Flower 6-2, 6-3 and knocked off UCLA's No. 35 Riza Zalameda 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance to the semifinals where Murray fell to USC's top-seeded Lyndsey Nelson, the eventual champion of the singles draw.
Complete draws and results from the ITA National Indoor Championships will be available at the Indoor Championships Homepage.