Feb. 7, 2008
MADISON, Wis. -- No. 3 Northwestern surrendered a tightly-contested doubles point to Fresno State, but won four singles matches to defeat the 12th-ranked Bulldogs Thursday in the first round of the ITA Indoor Championships, 4-1. Northwestern is now a perfect 4-0 on the year and faces No. 7 California in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
With the win, Northwestern improves to 4-0 while Fresno State was handed a loss in its first contest of 2008.
Fresno State took two of the three doubles matches to claim the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead. NU's lone win came at No. 3 where the pair of Maria Mosolova and Nazlie Ghazal downed Vanessa Heroux and Jacqueline Haskett, 8-2.
At No. 2, Fresno State's 29th-ranked duo of Renata Kucerkova and Anastasia Petukhova defeated Georgia Rose and Alexis Conill, 8-6. In a battle of top-10 doubles teams, the Bulldogs' top-ranked team of Tinesta Rowe and Melanie Gloria took a 7-5 tiebreaker to upend the seventh-ranked tandem of Lauren Lui and Samantha Murray, 9-8 (5).
Despite falling behind 1-0, the Wildcats took four singles matches to win the dual, 4-1. The other two matches were abandoned with the overall match determined.
Ghazal was the first off the courts at No. 5. She earned a straight-set win over Haskett, 6-4, 6-1. NU took the lead for good when the ninth-ranked Rose downed the 11th-ranked Petukhova in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4.
Suzie Matzenauer, who earned the clincher against Georgia Tech last weekend, put the 'Cats ahead 3-1 with a straight-set victory at No. 6 over Heroux, 6-3, 6-1.
The Wildcats ended the first-round contest when the 20th-ranked Murray topped Kucerkova in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
The 68th-ranked Lui's match against the 43rd-ranked Rowe was abandoned with Lui ahead, 7-5, 2-1, and Mosolova was in her third set against Gloria at No. 1.
Northwestern faces California at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Live scoring can be found at itatennis.com
Northwestern 4, Fresno State 1
Singles
1. #2 Mosolova (NU) vs. #39 Gloria (FSU) 7-5, 3-6, 4-3, unfinished
2. #9 Rose (NU) def. #11 Petukhova (FSU) 6-0, 6-4
3. #20 Murray (NU) def. #94 Kucerkova (FSU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
4. #68 Lui (NU) vs. #43 Rowe (FSU) 7-5, 2-1, unfinished
5. #99 Ghazal (NU) def. Haskett (FSU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Matzenauer (NU) def. Heroux (FSU) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
1. #1 Gloria/Rowe (FSU) def. #7 Lui/Murray (NU) 9-8 (7-5)
2. #29 Petukhova/Kucerkova (FSU) def. Conill/Rose (NU) 8-6
3. Mosolova/Ghazal (NU) def. Heroux/Haskett (FSU) 8-2