Oct. 26, 2009
ITA Midwest Regional Championships Tournament Web page
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern junior Maria Mosolova was playing at the top of her game Monday, winning her quarterfinal and semifinal matches to advance to the championship match of the 2009 ITA Midwest Regional Championships in Evanston. Top-seeded Mosolova, now 7-2 in singles this fall season, will face Kristy Frilling of Notre Dame at 10 a.m. Tuesday for the title of regional champion.
Receive live updates of the match on Twitter by following the username @NU_SportsLIVE as Mosolova attempts to keep the ITA Midwest Regional singles title in Evanston for the ninth consecutive year. This is Mosolova's longest stay in the Midwest Regional Championships having reached the semifinals as a freshman in 2007.
In her first match of the afternoon, Mosolova battled hard to knock off Iowa sophomore Sonja Molnar, who was among the tournament's 5-8 seeding group. After stealing the first set 6-4, Mosolova was pushed to a tiebreaker to decide the second but hit the clutch shots when they counted to take the set 7-6 (4) and earn a spot in the semifinals.
Waiting for Mosolova in the semis was Michigan's Denise Muresan, a 9-16 seed in the singles bracket. Mosolova jumped on Muresan in the first set, cruising to a 5-0 lead before the Wolverine pulled back a game by breaking Mosolova's serve. But the NU junior answered with a break of her own in the ensuing game to take the opening set 6-1.
It was more of the same in the second set, as Mosolova used a relentless drive and pinpoint accuracy to cruise to a quick two-break advantage over Muresan at 4-0. As they did in the first set, the two traded breaks over the next three games to bring Mosolova's lead to 5-2. Mosolova found herself down an Ad point in the eighth game but, three deuce points later, closed out the match when a Muresan forehand sailed wide.
Two of Mosolova's teammates, seniors Samantha Murray and Lauren Lui, had their runs at the ITA Midwest Regionals ended in the quarterfinal round. Lui stayed right with Muresan through the entire match but eventually lost a 6-4, 6-4 decision. Murray, the tournament's defending champion, battled DePaul's Anna Redesci to a first-set tiebreaker win but lost the ensuing sets 6-3, 6-1.
Earlier in the day, DePaul's Redesci and Selma Salkovic--the tournament's No. 2 seeded doubles team--claimed the doubles championship by knocking off top-seeded Kristy Frilling and Kali Krisik of Notre Dame in the title match.
Monday's Singles Results
Quarterfinals
Mosolova (NU) def. Molnar (IA), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
Muresan (MICH) def. Lui (NU), 6-4, 6-4
Redesci (DEP) def. Murray (NU), 6-7, 6-3, 6-1
Frilling (ND) def. Flower (OSU), 6-3, 6-0
Semifinals
Mosolova (NU) def. Muresan (MICH), 6-1, 6-2
Frilling (ND) def. Redesci (DEP), 7-5, 6-3