May 14, 2011

Complete Results |  Photo Gallery 

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Score: No. 14 Northwestern 4, No. 20 Notre Dame 0
Records: NU (22-7, 9-1 Big Ten), Notre Dame (16-10, 6-0 Big East)
Next NU Event: Friday, May 20 vs. No. 1 Stanford • Palo Alto, Calif. • 8 p.m. CT

NCAA Regional Tournament Website

EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the 11th time in the last 12 years, Northwestern earned a trip to the NCAA Championship Round of 16 in convincing fashion. On a cold, blustery Saturday, Northwestern and Notre Dame battled indoors at the Combe Tennis Center in a knock-down-drag-out dual, but after over three-and-a-half hours of play, junior Stacey Lee finally clinched the second-round win for the 'Cats with a second-set tiebreaker giving them a 4-0 victory over the Irish.

With Northwestern minus freshman sensation Belinda Niu due to injury, head coach Claire Pollard was forced to shuffle things around in both doubles and singles.

"The bad thing about yesterday was Belinda getting hurt - that was unfortunate," Pollard said, "but I think you've got to give a big hand to Kate Turvy for stepping up today. She played great doubles after we shuffled up our doubles teams. And I thought our No. 1 doubles team put on a clinic today. They were just outstanding."

With a swift 8-2 victory over Notre Dame's Kristy Frilling and Shannon Mathews, NU's No. 1 team of Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton earned their 17th win as a doubles team. Their combination of great serving and consistent play at the net allowed them overpower the 15th-ranked team in the nation.

NU had a different look at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles on Saturday with Niu out of the lineup. Maria Mosolova and Kate Turvy were teamed up for the first time this year and played at the No. 3 spot. The Wildcat twosome came through in the clutch with a hard-fought win over Jennifer Kellner and Britney Sanders, 8-4, which gave Northwestern the all-important first team point.

The 'Cats used the momentum of the doubles point to their distinct advantage during singles. In a fitting end to her last match at the Combe Tennis Center, Maria Mosolova proved why she is Northwestern's No. 1. For the second time this year, the senior upset fifth-ranked Kristy Frilling, this time in a thrilling two-set match. Mosolova jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in both of the sets and never looked back, beating the Big East Player of the Year, 6-2, 6-2. Mosolova's 22nd win of the season put the 'Cats on top of the Irish in the team score, 2-0.

"In singles we were just resilient and tough again," Pollard said. "Maria taking care of (Kristy) Frilling again was just a huge boost."

That boost was apparent when, moving up to No. 3 singles for the first time in over a month, sophomore Kate Turvy overpowered Jennifer Kellner in two sets, 6-2, 6-0, giving Northwestern a 3-0 lead. With the win, Turvy is now 9-5 at No. 3 this season.

Even though Northwestern had a 3-0 advantage, the dual still remained in question. It was anyone's match across the board at Nos. 2, 4, and 6, but Stacey Lee eventually settled everything with her win at No. 5 that kept the crowd on edge. Lee won the first set handily, 6-3, but dropped the first two games of the second set to Britney Sanders, which made things interesting.

The Wildcat junior strung together four straight wins to go up 4-2 over Sanders, but the Notre Dame freshman came back to tie things at four apiece. After trading wins, Lee and Sanders moved to a tiebreaker set at six all, where Lee asserted her dominance, jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead in the race to seven points. After Sanders claimed the sixth point, Lee won two straight, effectively punching Northwestern's ticket to California for the Round of 16.

With the dual settled, three matches remained unfinished. Playing strong at No. 2 for the first time since February, Brittany Wowchuk dropped the first set to Shannon Matthews, 6-3, but regained control to grab the second with a convincing 6-2 win. When Lee won her match, Wowchuk was down, 6-3, 2-6, 5-2. In an incredibly tight match at No. 4, Linda Abu Mushrefova and Kristen Rafael went back and forth through two sets. Rafael took the first set, 6-4, but Abu Mushrefova led the second, 5-4. At No. 6, Nida Hamilton also lost her first set, 6-3, to Chrissie McGaffigan. Hamilton won the second set, 6-2, but was trailing in the third, 5-2, when Lee clinched.

Next up, the 'Cats will travel to Palo Alto, Calif., where they will face top-seeded Stanford on its home courts in the NCAA Championship round of 16. Stanford last hosted the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships in 2006 when Northwestern's Alexis Prousis and Cristelle Grier captured an NCAA doubles crown.

NCAA Championship Second Round
Northwestern 4, Notre Dame 0
Singles:
1: #10 Maria Mosolova (NU) def. #5 Kristy Frilling (ND), 6-2, 6-2
2: #56 Shannon Matthews (ND) vs. #78 Brittany Wowchuk (NU), 6-3, 2-6, 5-2
3: Kate Turvy (NU) def. #123 Jenny Kellner (ND), 6-2, 6-0
4: Kristen Rafael (ND) vs. Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU), 6-4, 4-5
5: Stacey Lee (NU) def. Britney Sanders (ND), 6-3, 7-6 (7-1)
6: Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) vs. Nida Hamilton (NU), 6-3, 3-6, 5-2

Doubles:
1: #11 Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton (NU) def. #15 Kristy Frilling/Shannon Mathews (ND), 8-2
2: Chrissie McGaffigan/Kristen Rafael (ND) vs. Elena Chernyakova/Brittany Wowchuk (NU), 7-6, unf.
3: Maria Mosolova/Kate Turvy (NU) def. Jennifer Kellner/Britney Sanders (ND), 8-4

Order of Finish:
Singles (1, 3, 5*)
Doubles (1, 3*)

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