Feb. 22, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 1 Northwestern put its undefeated dual record on the line against fourth-ranked Georgia Tech and came away victorious once again, edging the Yellow Jackets, 5-2, at the Bill Moore Tennis Center in Atlanta Sunday. Senior Nazlie Ghazal clinched the fourth point for NU with a hard-fought three-set victory against Georgia Tech's Sasha Krupina.
With Northwestern leading 3-2, Ghazal took command in the first set of her No. 5 singles match, winning 6-1 before dropping the second by a 6-4 margin. The third frame was knotted at four before Ghazal closed out the match for NU with consecutive game victories.
Sunday's match pitted the champions of the last three ITA National Indoor Championship tournaments against each other, with Georgia Tech having won the 2007 and 2008 events before the Wildcats claimed their first title last weekend. NU has now beaten Georgia Tech in Atlanta in back-to-back years.
Northwestern (8-0) returns to Evanston next weekend when it hosts a pair of highly ranked ACC foes. No. 6 Duke comes to Combe Tennis Center at 3 p.m. Saturday before 13th-ranked North Carolina visits Northwestern at noon on Sunday.
Against Georgia Tech (5-2), Northwestern continued its streak of dominance in doubles, winning the doubles point for the eighth time in eight matches. Freshman Elena Chernyakova and junior Samantha Murray won their sixth consecutive doubles match together with an easy 8-0 decision over Sasha Krupina and Lynn Blau at No. 3 while the 31st-ranked tandem of Lauren Lui and Georgia Rose scored a terrific 8-2 upset over No. 5 Amanda McDowell and Irina Falconi.
Singles play began with the top three positions hitting the courts first. At No. 2, Rose faced the 2008 NCAA singles champion, 10th-ranked Amanda McDowell, and managed to win the first set, 7-6. After McDowell fought back to win the second, Rose eliminated all possibility of a comeback by coasting to a 6-1 third-set victory.
Meanwhile, 43rd-ranked Murray improved to 21-8 this season with her 6-2, 6-4 win against No. 38 Christy Stiplin at No. 3. Top-ranked Maria Mosolova went the distance against 13th-ranked Falconi, but the Yellow Jackets' talented freshman took the third set, 6-4, to best Mosolova in the No. 1 singles match.
A loss by Lui at fourth singles left NU needing to post a win at either No. 5 or No. 6 to leave Georgia with a win. After Ghazal's clutch victory over Krupina, senior Keri Robison followed suit for the 'Cats with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Viet Ha Ngo.
No. 1 Northwestern 5, No. 4 Georgia Tech 2
Singles
No. 1: No. 13 Irina Falconi (GT) def. No. 1 Maria Mosolova (NU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
No. 2: No. 25 Georgia Rose (NU) def. No. 10 Amanda McDowell (GT), 7-6, 3-6, 6-1
No. 3: No. 43 Samantha Murray (NU) def. No. 38 Christy Stiplin (GT), 6-2, 6-4
No. 4: No. 77 Noelle Hickey (GT) def. No. 83 Lauren Lui (NU), 6-4, 6-0
No. 5: No. 99 Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Sasha Krupina (GT), 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
No. 6: Keri Robison (NU) def. Viet Ha Ngo (GT), 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1: No. 31 Lui/Rose (NU) def. No. 5 McDowell/Falconi (GT), 8-2
No. 2: No. 17 Hickey/Striplin (GT) def. No. 18 Mosolova/Robison (NU), 8-5
No. 3: Chernyakova/Murray (NU) def. Krupina/Blau (GT), 8-0
Order of finish:
Doubles (3, 1, 2)
Singles (3, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6)