Feb. 2, 2007
MADISON, Wis. -- Nazlie Ghazal's (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) win over Miami's Gina Sabatino broke a 3-3 tie and sent the Wildcats to the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time in nine appearances. The eighth-ranked and sixth-seeded Wildcats took the doubles point from the fifth-ranked and third-seeded Hurricanes and used singles wins by Ghazal, along with freshmen Suzie Matzenauer (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine) and Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) to take the 4-3 win.
"It was a great match between two great teams," head coach Claire Pollard said. "We were fortunate to survive and we've got another tough one tomorrow."
Northwestern improves to 4-0 and Miami drops to 3-1. The 'Cats will take on fourth-ranked regional rival Notre Dame in the semifinals. The match begins at 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Northwestern captured the doubles point by winning the No. 1 and No. 3 matches for the second night in a row. Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) topped Miami's sixth-ranked team of Farah and Banada, 9-7. The 'Cats took the doubles point with another win by the No. 3 duo of Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) and Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral). They took their match over the Hurricanes' Sabatino and Seenauth, 8-5.
The No. 2 team of Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) and Lui fell to Miami's seventh-ranked team of Cohen and Vallverdu, 8-2.
At No. 1 singles, Rose, after losing a first-set tiebreaker, fell in the second set, 6-2, to surrender the first point to the Hurricanes. Freshman Suzie Matzenauer (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine) gave NU a 2-1 lead when she knocked off Miami's Caren Seenauth, 6-3, 7-6, at the No. 5 singles spot.
The 'Canes tied the score at 2-2 when Audrey Banada came topped Prousis at No. 3. The senior won the first set 6-3, before surrendering the next two.
At No. 4, the 66th-ranked Lui put the Wildcats back on top with a straight-set win over Miami's 56th-ranked Romy Farah, 6-2, 7-6.
Murray fell to sixth-ranked Laura Vallverdu in three sets. Murray took the first set 6-3 before falling 7-5, 6-3 in the next two. The match was tied at three with Ghazal in the third set. The sophomore came through with the clincher. She lost the first set 6-3, but roared back to take the second set 6-1 before sealing the dual with a 6-3 win in the third.
"Nazlie played a third-set tiebreaker in our first round match against UCLA," Pollard said. "It was good preparation for the moment she found herself in."
The 'Cats take to the court against Notre Dame in the semifinals. Notre Dame is undefeated and topped Baylor in their quarterfinal match. They are ranked fourth in the nation and seeded second in the tournament.