May 17, 2009
NCAA.com Interactive Bracket
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- In a match that saw momentum change hands numerous times throughout doubles and singles, No. 1 Northwestern was edged in its NCAA Championships quarterfinal contest by eighth-seeded California 4-2 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas, Sunday night.
The loss brings to an end another stellar season by Northwestern, one in which the 'Cats maintained the top spot in the Campbell/ITA College Tennis poll every week since the initial preseason rankings in January. Northwestern finished with 28 dual wins, one shy of the program record of 29 set last season.
Top-seeded NU also had its season cut short by the Golden Bears in the quarterfinal of last year's NCAA Tournament, but every Wildcat on the courts Sunday battled valiantly--reaching third sets or set-tiebreakers in five of six singles matches--against a very talented Cal lineup.
"Cal was on top of us quite quickly in singles tonight and a year ago that happened to us and we didn't quite know how to react," said NU head coach Claire Pollard. "This year I was really proud of how the girls dug deep, found ways to get back into it and win second sets. Lauren (Lui) pulling out a first-set tiebreaker was huge and Keri (Robison) turned her match around after losing 6-0. As disappointed as I am, I'm so much prouder of the effort we gave this year."
Cal slipped to the eighth seed despite boasting five singles players ranked in the top 55 nationally, including two--Jana Juricova and Mari Andersson--with several years experience on the professional circuit. The Golden Bears join Notre Dame, Georgia and Duke—three teams Northwestern defeated during the 2009 regular season—in the Final Four of the NCAA Championships.
"I feel like we lost to the team I was most worried about playing in the whole tournament," Pollard said. "I felt we were right with them and maybe if we win the doubles point we can squeak that match out, but there's no guarantees. I think we as a team got so much out of ourselves and I couldn't be prouder of this group."
Early action in doubles was highlighted by NU's performance at No. 3, where Samantha Murray and Elena Chernyakova looked sharp from the start in jumping to a 4-1 lead against Bojana Bobusic and Stephany Chang. Later up 5-3, Murray cruised through her service game to keep the break advantage on NU's side. In the final game, Northwestern trailed 30-15 before taking the game to deuce, where the Bears volleyed a strong forehand by Murray into the net, giving NU an 8-4 victory. Murray and Chernyakova improved to 24-3 in 2008-09, 23-2 in dual matches.
Cal managed to gain a 5-2 lead in the top doubles match between Northwestern's 24th-ranked Georgia Rose and Lauren Lui and Cal's seventh-ranked Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova. But Northwestern responded with a break to climb back within one at 5-4 and 6-5 but Andersson and Juricova refused to surrender the break NU needed down the stretch, eventually winning the match 8-6.
That left the doubles point to be determined by Northwestern's Maria Mosolova and Keri Robison at second doubles against Cal's Claire Ilcinkas and Marina Cossou. The NU duo outlasted Cal's in an epic seventh game, which featured numerous deuce points, to take a 4-3 lead. Both teams held serves down the stretch until the 'Cats picked up a crucial break thanks to a backhand winner at the net by Mosolova and an unforced error by the Golden Bears, putting NU ahead 7-6.
NU's lead didn't last, however, and Cal went on to take an 8-7 lead with a chance to close the match. Mosolova sent it to tiebreakers with a swinging volley at the net and the action remained tight in the extra session. NU led 3-2 and soon found itself tied at four, but Cal seemed to get all the breaks from that point forward and managed to steal the doubles point by taking the tiebreaker, 7-5.
Sunday marked just the second time this year and the first time since March 1 against North Carolina that Northwestern entered singles play trailing 1-0 after doubles.
California carried the momentum into the start of singles by winning the first set in four of six matches, including a 6-0 victory by Chang at No. 6 against Robison. But Robison quickly regained her composure and solved Chang to the tune of a 6-2 second-set win and an easy 6-1 decision in the third. Robison nailed a backhand winner from the baseline on match point to even the team score at one apiece.
Cal reclaimed the lead shortly after when Juricova, a 21-year-old freshman, completed her 6-4, 6-1 win against Mosolova at No. 1. Mosolova held a 4-1 lead in the first before Juricova staged her comeback, narrowly winning her fifth and sixth games after several deuce points.
Like Robison, NU's Murray and Nazlie Ghazal dropped the first sets of their respective third and fifth singles contests before bouncing back to take the second. Ghazal led her second set against No. 32 Bojana Bobusic 5-1 and appeared to hit a winner down the line before the chair umpire ruled the shot out. Bobusic used her second life to win the next three games but Ghazal managed to close it out at 6-4. After Bobusic gained a 5-3 lead in the second, Ghazal held serve and then faced a match point on Bobusic's serve before stealing the game to even the set at five.
The match went the distance, with Bobusic and Ghazal trading points to a 4-4 tie. From there, Bobusic hit three consecutive unforced errors to end the match in Ghazal's favor and tie the score at two. Ghazal's 15th straight singles win came against the highest-ranked opponent she has played this year.
NU's fight to stay alive came to an end soon after when No. 41 Andersson managed to stave off Murray at No. 3 in three sets and No. 26 Cossou won the last two sets against Rose to clinch the match.
Lui exemplified the type of competitive fight the Wildcats displayed Sunday night down the stretch of the first set in her No. 4 singles match against Ilcinkas. The NU junior found herself behind 5-4 but rallied to push the set to tiebreakers, where she trailed at the first changeover 4-2. Lui used her steady rally ability to even things at four and from that point, neither player could muster a two-point advantage. Finally, a forehand by Ilcinkas sailed long, giving Lui a 12-10 win in the tiebreaker and a 7-6 first-set win.
Lui fell 6-1 in the second set but managed to go up a break in the fourth game of the third set at 3-1. Ilcinkas evened the score at three before the match was abandoned after Cal's clinching of the team decision.
Northwestern now turns its focus to the individual portion of the NCAA Championships in College Station as five Wildcats--Mosolova (singles/doubles), Rose (singles/doubles), Murray (singles), Lui (doubles) and Robison (doubles)--prepare to vie for personal titles. Competition in singles begins Wednesday while doubles commences on Thursday.
No. 8 California 4, No. 1 Northwestern 2
Singles
1: #11 Jana Juricova (CAL) def. #1 Maria Mosolova (NU), 6-4, 6-1
2: #26 Marina Cossou (CAL) def. #20 Georgia Rose (NU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
3: #41 Mari Andersson (CAL) def. #47 Samantha Murray (NU), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
4: #119 Lauren Lui (NU) vs. #54 Claire Ilcinkas (CAL), 7-6 (10), 1-6, 3-3
5: #117 Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. #32 Bojana Bobusic (CAL), 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
6: Keri Robison (NU) def. Stephany Chang (CAL), 0-6, 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1: #7 Andersson/Juricova (CAL) def. #24 Lui/Rose (NU), 8-6
2: #35 Cossou/Ilcinkas (CAL) def. #29 Mosolova/Robison (NU), 9-8 (5)
3: Chernyakova/Murray (NU) def. Bobusic/Chang (CAL), 8-4
Order of finish:
Singles (6, 1, 5, 3, 2*)
Doubles (3, 1, 2)