March 27, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 1 Northwestern played its first match in nearly two weeks Friday and staved off a challenge from No. 15 Fresno State, overcoming the Bulldogs by a 4-2 margin in San Diego. Senior Georgia Rose made a triumphant return to singles action, beating No. 28 Anastasia Petukhova in straight sets to earn the clinching fourth point for the Wildcats.
NU leaves Southern California with a 14-1 overall record and a No. 1 ranking entering Sunday's Big Ten match at 16th-ranked Michigan.
Northwestern's top doubles duo of Rose and Lauren Lui stretched the nation's No. 1-ranked doubles tandem of Petukhova and Renata Kucerkova as far as they would go, pushing the match into a tiebreaker set. But the Bulldogs persevered in the extra session, winning by a 7-5 margin in the breaker.
NU's other two doubles teams took care of business, however, as Northwestern secured a 1-0 lead going into singles play. Like Rose and Lui, senior Keri Robison and sophomore Maria Mosolova needed a breaker in order to decide their second doubles match. They managed to eke out a 9-8 (7-4) decision against 16th-ranked Tinesta Rowe and Melanie Gloria, while Samantha Murray and Elena Chernyakova quickly downed Laura Pola and Danon Beatty, 8-4.
Murray and senior Nazlie Ghazal gave Northwestern a 3-0 cushion with their respective wins at third and fifth singles. No. 47 Murray bested Kucerkova, 6-4, 6-3, for her 26th singles win of the year. Ghazal, meanwhile, escaped the first set with a 7-5 win in the breaker over Pola before coasting through the second, 6-1.
Rose wasted little time in taking the drama out of the dual when she put down Kucerkova, 6-2, 6-3, to put the 'Cats ahead 4-0. Rose, ranked 20th in singles action, improved to 16-8 overall in singles play this year.
Following Rose's match, Fresno State found its stride and managed to get back its first point at sixth singles, where Beatty overcame Robison, 7-5, 6-1. The loss snapped a seven-match winning streak for Robison.
Second-ranked Mosolova and 18th-ranked Gloria, the three-time reigning WAC player of the year, traded 6-4 decisions in the first two sets to force a tiebreaker session. But Gloria picked up the win with a 10-5 decision in the breaker. At No. 4, Rowe edged Lui in the first set before the match was abandoned with the score even at three in the second set and the team score already decided.
No. 1 Northwestern 4, No. 15 Fresno State 2
Singles
1. No. 18 Melanie Gloria (FS) def. No. 2 Maria Mosolova (NU) 6-4, 4-6, (10-5)
2. No. 20 Georgia Rose (NU) def. No. 28 Anastasia Petukhova (FS) 6-2, 6-3
3. No. 47 Samantha Murray (NU) def. No. 89 Renata Kucerkova (FS) 6-4, 6-3
4. Tinesta Rowe (FS) vs. No. 104 Lauren Lui (NU) 7-6 (7-4), 3-3 (match abandoned)
5. Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Laura Pola (FS) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
6. Danon Beatty (FS) def. Keri Robison (NU) 7-5, 6-1
Order of Completion: 3, 5, 2*, 6, 1, 4
Doubles
1. No. 1 Petukhova/Kucerkova (FS) def. No. 12 Rose/Lui (NU) 9-8 (7-5)
2. No. 52 Robison/Mosolova (NU) def. No. 16 Gloria/Rowe (FS) 9-8 (7-4)
3. Murray/Chernyakova (NU) def. Pola/Beatty (FS) 8-4
Order of Completion: 3, 2, 1