May 30, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern again enjoyed one of the best seasons in program history in 2006-07 with a host of team and individual honors. The 'Cats reached the NCAA round of 16 for the seventh time in head coach Claire Pollard's nine seasons and won their record-tying ninth-straight Big Ten title.
Although the Wildcats say goodbye to 2006 NCAA doubles champion Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), NU welcomes back every other starter from this year's squad for 2007-08. A solid group of freshmen gained valuable experience while the sophomore class will be ready to provide leadership next season.
Individually, sophomore Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) led the way for the Wildcats. Playing all season at the No. 1 spot, the sophomore was named Big Ten Player of the Year and earned recognition from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as their co-Player to Watch.
Freshman Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) continued the trend of stellar Wildcat freshman, earning Big Ten Freshman and ITA Midwest Region Rookie Player of the Year honors while putting up impressive numbers at No. 2 singles.
Sophomore Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) was nearly automatic in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots. She went 23-4 in duals and ended the year on a team-high 14-match winning streak.
Freshmen Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) and Suzie Matzenauer (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine) both enjoyed successful first seasons at Northwestern. Lui, who played mostly at No.4 , was 13-5 in that spot and was 33-9 overall. Matzenauer, who overpowered her opponents with a variety of passing shots, was 8-0 at No. 6 and was 13-3 in duals.
In doubles, the 'Cats were nearly unbeatable in dual play, posting a 63-15 mark in dual doubles matches. Prousis and Rose ended the regular season ranked ninth in the nation and played in the NCAA Championships. At No. 2, Lui and sophomore transfer Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) made major contributions down the stretch, posting a 17-2 dual record.
Not to be outdone, the team that anchored the No. 3 slot, Murray and junior Alexis Conill (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) went 15-3 at that position.
Before the fall season even started, Prousis got to take a very special trip to Flushing Meadows, N.Y., for the U.S. Open. By virtue of her NCAA doubles championship, the senior received a wild card entry into the prestigious tournament. Prousis and Stanford's Anne Yelsey played a match on the Grandstand Court at the National Tennis Center.
While Prousis played in the ITA All-American Championships, the rest of the 'Cats started the fall season by welcoming a host of regional foes to Evanston for the Wildcat Invitational. After their home tournament, the Wildcats traveled to East Lansing, Mich., for the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. Murray reached the quarterfinals of the singles draw while Rose and Prousis fell to Notre Dame' Brooke Buck and Kelcy Tefft in the finals of the doubles bracket.
Rose and Prousis then traveled to Columbus, Ohio, for the ITA National Indoor Championships. The pair fell to North Carolina's Jenna Long and Sara Anundsen, 8-5. Meanwhile, the rest of the Wildcats continued to roll in their fall campaigns, dominating the field at Western Michigan's Bronco Invite.
After a break for the holidays, NU started its winter season in Palm Springs, Calif., with the National Collegiate Tennis Classic. Murray was the star of the show for NU as she advanced to the semifinals of the main singles draw. The freshman topped foes from UCLA and Georgia Tech before falling to Lindsay Nelson of USC -- the tournament's eventual champion -- in the semifinals.
After an impressive showing at the Florida State Invitational -- the final tune up before the beginning of the dual season -- the 'Cats were ready to start the 2007 dual campaign.
Northwestern started the dual season with two home matches against DePaul and Duke. After taking all three doubles matches and 5-of-6 singles matches en route to a 6-1 win over DePaul, the 'Cats rolled through then-10th-ranked Duke at the Combe Tennis Center, 6-1.
NU again won all three doubles matches and only surrendered one singles bout with Matzenauer and Ghazal surrendering only four games between them at the bottom two singles spots.
The 'Cats then hit the road for the ITA Indoor Championships hosted by Wisconsin and the Wildcats advanced to the semifinals with wins over UCLA and Miami.
NU won the doubles point against the Bruins with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Rose and Prousis topped the then-17th-ranked pair of Yasmin Schnack and Riza Zalameda, 8-5. Rose won the clincher with a 6-0, 6-1 win over the 35th-ranked Zalameda.
The Wildcats advanced to the semifinals by topping then-fifth-ranked Miami, 4-3. The 'Cats again got a big win at No. 1 doubles from Rose and Prousis and used singles wins by Lui, Matzenauer and Ghazal to seal the dual. NU fell to Notre Dame in the semifinals for their first loss of the season.
After opening the conference slate with a 7-0 rout of Wisconsin, the 'Cats started the most difficult stretch of the regular season with a home contest against newly top-ranked Georgia Tech. It was the first of three-straight matches against top 10 opponents.
NU took a closely contested doubles point when the No. 2 team of Lui and Murray downed Georgia Tech's Rudman and Silverio, 9-8 (7-2). However, the Yellow Jackets would get the four singles wins they needed to best the Wildcats, 4-3. Rose at No. 1 and Robison at No. 6 accounted for Northwestern's two singles wins.
After a 7-0 win over Baylor, the 'Cats fell to then seventh-ranked North Carolina, 4-3. The Tar Heels took the doubles point and won matches at the No. 4-6 singles spots. Rose cruised past the then seventh-ranked Long at No. 1, 6-0, 6-2.
The 'Cats hit the road for the first time in Big Ten season and took wins over Michigan and Penn State. For spring break, the Wildcats traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii for contests against Hawaii and California.
After dismissing Hawaii, 7-0, the Wildcats were bested by eventual NCAA semifinalist Cal, 6-1. Rose's 6-1, 6-3 win over 13th-ranked Zsuzsanna Fodor gave NU its only point.
After back-to-back 7-0 wins over Purdue and Illinois at home, the 'Cats traveled to Williamsburg, Va., for a non-conference contest against 13th-ranked William & Mary. The 'Cats were originally scheduled to face the Tribe in a neutral site contest at Harvard, but the trip was cancelled due to travel complications.
Highlighted by Rose and Prousis' 8-6 win over the top-ranked team of Megan Moulton-Levy and Katrina Zoricic of William & Mary, the 'Cats bested the Tribe, 4-3. NU got wins from Lui, Robison and Ghazal at the Nos. 4-6 spots. Ghazal captured the clincher at No. 6.
NU was supposed to travel to Ohio State to face the Buckeyes as part of a three match in three-day stretch, but travel complications resulted in the postponement of NU's match against Ohio State. The 'Cats concluded their eventful road trip with a 5-2 win over Indiana. The Hoosiers took the doubles point from a travel-weary 'Cats, but NU got five singles wins to take the match.
The Wildcats welcomed then second-ranked Notre Dame to the Combe Tennis Center for their last non-conference contest. NU used the home crowd to its advantage and rolled past the Irish, 5-2.
Rose and Prousis dominated then-eighth-ranked Catrina and Christian Thompson, 8-1, and the 'Cats took the doubles point with a Murray and Conill win at No. 3. Lui won the clincher at No. 4 singles.
After four-straight wins to close the Big Ten season and seal their seventh Big Ten regular season title in nine seasons, the Wildcats headed to Minneapolis seeking their ninth-straight Big Ten championship.
NU defeated Penn State, 4-0, in the first round. Ghazal again captured the clincher for the Wildcats. Rose clinched the 'Cats second-round match against Iowa with a 7-6, 6-1 win over Jacqueline Lee at No. 1.
The Wildcats sealed their record-tying ninth-straight Big Ten title with a dominating 4-0 win over Michigan in the finals. Prousis took a straight-set match from Kara Delicata to seal the championship.
The Wildcats, who earned a program-best No. 5 seed in the NCAA Championships, welcomed Western Michigan, Indiana and Boise State to the Vandy Christie Tennis Center for the Evanston Regional.
Under windy conditions, the 'Cats eliminated Western Michigan from the tournament, 4-0. In the regional final, NU bested Big Ten rival Indiana, 4-1, with Lui providing the clincher at No. 4.
NU's team season ended with a 4-0 defeat to 12th-seeded UCLA. The Bruins proved to be the Cinderella of this year's NCAA tournament, knocking off NU, fourth-seeded Florida and top-seeded Stanford en route to a finals appearance. Rose and Prousis accounted for the 'Cats' lone doubles win and UCLA took the first three singles matches.
Individually, three Wildcats participated in the NCAA Championships, Murray and Rose in singles and Rose and Prousis in doubles. Murray fell to California's 12th-ranked Fodor in the first round in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Also in action on the first day, Rose defeated Ilona Somers of Mississippi, 6-1, 6-2.
On the second day, Rose advanced past VCU's Tatsiana Usarova in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, while Rose and Prousis got off to a slow start, but defeated Georgia Tech's Alison Silverio and Amanda Craddock, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Rose fell in a close three-setter to Stanford's Lindsay Burdette in the round of 16, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 to end her stellar season. Later that day, NU's bid for a second-straight NCAA doubles title ended as Rose and Prousis fell to Pepperdine's Bianca Dulgheru and Sylvia Kosakowski, 6-3, 6-4.
NU will seek to win its record 10th-straight Big Ten title in 2007-08 and will certainly have the firepower to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.