April 14, 2011
Site: Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Score: No. 7 Baylor 4, No. 15 Northwestern 3
Records: NU (14-6, 6-0 Big Ten) BU (19-3, 7-1 Big 12)
Next NU Event: Saturday, April 16 vs. Indiana Evanston, Ill. 11 a.m. CT
EVANSTON, Ill. -- It all came down to the last point in a tiebreaker set, in the final match of the dual between No. 15 Northwestern and seventh-ranked Baylor Thursday in Evanston. Each team laid everything on the line for nearly five hours, but Baylor eventually escaped with a 4-3 win over the 'Cats.
"I can't say enough about the way we played today," said head coach Claire Pollard. "We knew we had a difficult match in front of us, and we gave a very good Baylor team everything we had. We have to move forward, though, and we'll finish the regular season strong."
NU began the match with a huge boost from doubles play as the 'Cats got two big victories from the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. After Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton fell to Nina Secerbegovic and Karolina Filipiak, 8-4, Elena Chernyakova and Brittany Wowchuk stepped up with an 8-4 win of their own over Sona Novakova and Diana Nakic. NU's No. 2 team of Maria Mosolova and Belinda Niu secured the 1-0 lead for the 'Cats as they downed Taylor Ormond and Jelena Stanivuk, 8-4, to finish the doubles portion.
Mosolova continued the momentum into singles play with a tightly contested battle against Sona Novakova. The 13th-ranked senior played with resolve, upending the 11th-ranked Novakova, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, to stay undefeated with a 16-0 record.
With Northwestern up 2-0, Baylor took the reigns, winning the next two matches at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. Freshman Belinda Niu lost for only the fourth time this season, falling to Nina Secerbegovic of Baylor, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3. Shortly after, Kate Turvy went down to Diana Nakic, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, to tie things up at two apiece.
Things became very intense with the next two points. First, the 'Cats grabbed a solid win from No. 4 Brittany Wowchuk. The Sophomore who struggled in her last outing against Illinois showed great determination, especially after dropping the first set, 6-2, to Karolina Filipiak. Wowchuk kicked it into gear and never trailed Filipiak again, winning easily 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Seconds later, Baylor knotted things up at 3-3 when Taylor Ormond pulled away from the 'Cats' No. 6, Linda Abu Mushrefova in a heated contest. The sophomore Wildcat won the first set with ease, but in the end, Ormond was too much to handle, outlasting Abu Mushrefova for a tough, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, win.
Attention turned to the No. 5 courts where the fourth and final point was to be decided between Stacey Lee and Baylor's Jelena Stanivuk. Lee had won the first set without difficulty, 6-2, but Stanivuk made things interesting after a 7-5 shootout in the second set. In the final set, the two went game for game until the score reached 6-6, which forced a tiebreaker set to determine the winner.
Again, the two battled back and forth, but Stanivuk maintained the upper hand, leading 4-2 at one point. Lee rallied back to make the score 6-5, but the Baylor senior won the final point with an emphatic shot in the corner, defeating Lee 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), and ending Northwestern's bid for an upset.
Next up is the final home weekend of the regular season for the 'Cats as Indiana and Purdue come to town. Due to the projected weather, both matches are tentatively scheduled to indoors at the Combe Tennis Center, but be sure to keep up to date with NUsports.com for the latest information leading up to the matches.
No. 7 Baylor 4, No. 15 Northwestern 3
Singles:
1: #13 Maria Mosolova (NU) def. #11 Sona Novakova (BU), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
2: #40 Nina Secergeovic (BU) def. #65 Belinda Niu (NU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
3: #46 Diana Nakic (BU) def. #101 Kate Turvy (NU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
4: #77 Brittany Wowchuk (NU) def. Karolina Filipiak (BU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
5: #117 Jelena Stanivuk (BU) def. Stacy Lee (NU) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)
6: Taylor Ormond (BU) def. Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU), 2-6, 6-1, 7-5
Doubles:
1: Secerbegovic/Filipiak (BU) def. Abu Mushrefova/Hamilton (NU) 8-4
2: Mosolova/Niu (NU) def. Ormond/Stanivuk (BU), 8-4
3: Chernyakova/Wowchuk (NU) def. Novakova/Nakic (BU) 8-4
Order of Finish:
Singles (1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 5*)
Doubles (1, 3, 2*)
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