May 11, 2007
Results
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Fifth-seeded Northwestern battled blustery winds and brisk temperatures Friday afternoon at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center, but the 'Cats advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships by defeating Western Michigan, 4-0. The 'Cats face Big Ten foe and 24th-ranked Indiana at noon Saturday for a berth in the round of 16.
Northwestern improves to 22-4 overall while Western Michigan ends its season with a 22-7 record.
The Wildcats captured the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. The ninth-ranked duo of sophomore Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) and senior Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) sprinted out to a 5-0 lead over WMU's Ashley Moccia and Noriko Saruta. The pair surrendered only two games en route to an 8-2 win at No. 1.
At No. 3, the team of freshman Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) and junior Alexis Conill (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) were caught in a close contest with Emily Dudzik and Carrie Jeanmaire, but with NU up 4-3, the duo took the next two games to go up 6-3 and eventually clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 victory.
At No. 2, the match between NU's Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) and Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) and WMU's Kerstin Pahl and Priyanka Parekh was left unfinished with the 'Cats leading 6-3.
The wind continued to be factor as the dual moved to singles, but NU would take the No. 5 and No. 6 singles contests for a 3-0 overall lead. At No. 6, freshman Suzie Matzenauer (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine) cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Dudzik to extend her winning streak to seven.
Sophomore Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) extended her singles winning streak to 13 matches when she downed Moccia at No. 5, 6-1, 6-0. The Wildcat took a 3-0 lead in the first set and never looked back.
Prousis captured the clincher for the second-straight match with a three-set comeback win at No. 3. The senior defeated Parekh after surrendering the first set, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, to give the Wildcats the 4-0 win.
It appeared Murray would be the Wildcat to clinch the dual after she took the first set from Pahl at No. 2, 7-5, but the freshman could not shut the door on the Bronco before Prousis ended the dual. Although Murray has started every match for the Wildcats in the postseason, all four of her singles matches since the end of the regular season have been unfinished.
Rose's contest with Jeanmaire at No. 1 was abandoned with the score 5-7, 6-0, 3-4. Rose cruised through the second set after surrending a close first frame.
Lui dropped her first set in a tiebreak to Saruta, but took the second set, 6-1, before her match was abandoned at 6-7, 6-1, 2-3.
Indiana defeated Boise State in a close contest earlier in the afternoon at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center. The Hoosiers battled through tight singles matches for the 4-2 win. The Wildcats defeated Indiana during the regular season, 5-2, in Bloomington.
NU faces 24th-ranked Indiana at noon Saturday at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center (weather permitting) for a spot in the NCAA round of 16. In the case of inclement weather, the match will be moved indoors to the Combe Tennis Center.
For complete tournament coverage, visit the Evanston Regional Webpage.