Jan. 20, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Big Ten Conference doled out its first weekly honor of the season on Tuesday, naming Wildcats sophomore Maria Mosolova the league's Player of the Week following her impressive tournament victory at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., last weekend.
Just one week after the ITA placed her atop its polls as the nation's No. 1-ranked singles player, Mosolova was in top form at the NCTC. She collected four victories, including three against ranked opponents, to improve her record to 16-2 in singles play this season and 57-8 for her young career. In the tournament finals, Mosolova defeated Stanford's 26th-ranked Hilary Barte, the 2008 ITA National Rookie of the Year, 6-2, 6-7 (8), 7-5, to claim the title crown.
The Moscow, Russia native also recorded wins against Georgia Tech's Lynn Blau, UCLA's Yasmin Schnack (No. 106) and USC's Maria Sanchez (No. 22).
During her phenomenal rookie season in 2007-08, Mosolova compiled a 41-6 overall record and was honored as the Big Ten Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year as well as the ITA's National Player to Watch.
This is the third career weekly accolade for Mosolova, who previously garnered a pair of awards in January and February of her 2008 freshman campaign.
Northwestern, the nation's No. 1-ranked team, begins its spring dual season in earnest on Jan. 31 when it hosts the Indoor Team Qualifying event at the Combe Tennis Center. NU takes on New Mexico in the opening round and with a win would advance to play on Feb. 1 against the winner of the Tulsa-Washington State match.