Feb. 1, 2007
Results
MADISON, Wis. -- Behind a dominating performance at No. 1 singles by sophomore Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day), the eighth-ranked Wildcats downed 14th-ranked UCLA in the first round of the ITA National Indoor Championship, 5-2. Rose lost only one game in a straight-set win over the Bruins' 35th-ranked Riza Zalameda. The sixth-seeded 'Cats take on third-seeded Miami in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.
The Wildcats improve to 3-0 while the Bruins took their first loss and fall to 2-1. The 'Cats are making their first appearance in the quarterfinals since 2004.
Northwestern's 30th-ranked doubles tandem of Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Rose downed the 17th-ranked pair of Schnack and Zalameda, 8-5, in the No. 1 doubles spot.
The 'Cats took the doubles point when No. 3 Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) topped UCLA's Lin and Lumpkin, 8-6. The team of freshmen Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) and Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) fell in a tiebreaker at No. 2, but the 'Cats already had a 1-0 lead.
Murray put the 'Cats on top 2-0 when she knocked off UCLA's 28th-ranked Yasmin Schnack in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. The 66th-ranked Lui put Northwestern one win away from clinching the match when she also came back after dropping the first set to take a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory over the Bruins' 40th-ranked Ashley Joelson.
Rose shut the door on the Bruins with a commanding, 6-0, 6-1 win over the 35th-ranked Zalameda. The 'Cats led 4-0 with three matches left on the courts.
After taking a 2-1 lead in the first set, Prousis retired to surrender the first point to the Bruins. Ghazal made the score 5-1 when she took Elizabeth Lumpkin in a tight three-setter, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(7-4). UCLA scored the last point of the match when Alex McGoodwin scored a straight-set win over freshmen Suzie Matzenauer (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine) at No. 5, 6-4, 6-2.
"It was a much closer match than the score indicated," head coach Claire Pollard said. "Our freshmen came through big today and we've got to be ready for another great opponent tomorrow in Miami."
This is the third time NU has advanced to the quarterfinals and their record at the Indoor Championships improves to 15-10 in nine appearances.
Miami, the 'Cats next opponent, cruised to a 7-0 win over host Wisconsin in their first round match.
The Wildcats face third-seeded Miami in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.