Feb. 16, 2007
Results
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's sixth-ranked women's tennis team swept No. 10 Baylor 7-0 on Friday afternoon at Combe Tennis Center to earn their third victory against a top-10 opponent this dual season.
The dual was the Wildcats' second of three duals in seven days against top-10 opponents. The 'Cats lost a 4-3 nail-biter to third-ranked Georgia Tech on Monday, but bounced back with a resounding victory over the Bears.
As they have done in almost every single dual, the 'Cats came out on fire, dominating play en route to earning the doubles point.
Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) and Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) provided a glimpse of things to come, sweeping Baylor's Jana Biekilova and Iva Mihaylova 8-0 at No. 2 doubles. Murray ended the match with a powerful overhead smash to leave Northwestern one victory away from the doubles point.
Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) clinched the doubles point for the 'Cats, defeating Baylor's Jessica Zok and Klara Zrustova 8-3 at No. 1 doubles. The Wildcat duo broke Baylor's serve on match point as Rose ended the match with a backhand return down the line.
A pair of Wildcat sophomores gave the Wildcats a doubles sweep. Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Florida) teamed with Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) to score an 8-5 win over Baylor's Zuzana Cerna and Zuzana Chmelarova.
The 'Cats refused to let up in singles play, quickly pushing their lead to 3-0 with a pair of singles wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles. Ghazal got on the board first, claiming a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Mihaylova at No. 6 singles to push her record to 17-6 for the season.
Northwestern's Robison broke Bielikova to take the first set 6-3 at No. 5 singles, and then cruised to a 6-1 victory in the second set breaking her opponent three times. With the win Robison claimed her second victory in a dual against a top-10 opponent this week.
Murray came through with the clincher for the 'Cats, topping the 91st-ranked Cerna 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. With the second set tied at 2 apiece, the freshman reeled off four straight games, breaking her opponent twice, to take the match and give the Wildcats their third victory against a top-10 opponent this season.
The wins kept coming for the 'Cats. After falling behind due to an early break, Prousis kept her composure and rallied to a 6-2 victory in the first set at No. 3 singles. The lone Wildcat senior then used her newfound momentum to take the second set, topping Zrustova 6-2, 6-3.
In the tightest match of the dual, Lui and Chmelarova needed a tiebreak to decide the first set at No. 4 singles. Down 5-2 in the tiebreak, Lui rallied to even the score at 6-6. The two traded points until 8-8, when Lui got the two consecutive points she needed to take the first set 7-6 (10-8).
From there Lui breezed to a 6-1 victory in the second set to beat Chmelarova 7-6 (10-8), 6-1 and make the score 6-0 in favor of Northwestern.
Rose provided the capper for the sweep, downing the 38th-ranked Zok 6-3, 7-5 at No. 1 singles. The victory gives Rose her fourth win over a top-50 opponent this dual season as she holds a 6-1 record in duals.
With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 6-2 on the season. Baylor falls to 2-4.
The 'Cats return to action this Sunday, as they conclude a difficult seven-day stretch with a third consecutive match against a top-10 opponent when they face North Carolina on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT at Combe Tennis Center.