Oct. 23, 2011
ITA Midwest Regional Championship Tournament Central
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After entering the main doubles draw at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships as the top-seeded team, Northwestern's Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton, have advanced to the championship match on Monday morning. Three other Wildcats have also claimed spots in the quarterfinals of the main singles draw at the event.
Mushrefova (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) and Hamilton (Oak Brook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) won twice on Sunday morning to claim the coveted spot. First, the 'Cats knocked off Notre Dame's McGaffigan and Kellner, 8-6, in their quarterfinal match. In the semifinals, Mushrefova and Hamilton face Big Ten rivals from Michigan, Bolender and Bektas, who were the third seed in the draw. It was another tight match, but in the end Northwestern's dynamic duo claimed a 9-7 victory to move on to Monday's finale. There, they will meet their stiffest competition yet in another Notre Dame entry, Kristy Frilling and Shannon Mathews. Frilling and Mathews are the second seed in the draw and No. 5 overall in the ITA rankings.
To make it to the semifinals, Frilling and Mathews had to defeat another Northwestern entry, Brittany Wowchuk (Toronto, Ontario/Oakville, Trafalgar) and Belinda Niu (Portland, Ore/Lincoln), which they did by a score of 8-1.
The doubles final is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CT.
A trio of Wildcats, including Wowchuk and Niu, are still playing in the main singles draw. The third NU participant is Kate Turvy (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman). Wowchuk defeated Michigan's Mimi Nguyen, 6-2, 6-1 on Sunday. The Toronto native will face Frilling, the top-seeded singles player at 11 a.m. Monday.
Niu defeated an instate rival, Illinois' Amy Allin, in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5 to move on to the quarterfinal round. Niu, the fourth seed in the draw, will square off with DePaul's Patricia Fargas, also at 11 a.m. Monday.
Turvy won her second straight match in the draw over ND's Brittney Sanders, 7-5, 6-0. She will also play at 11 a.m. on Monday morning against the third seed, Michigan's Sam Crister.
For complete results and draws, please visit the Tournament Central page at the top of the page. For live stats throughout the event, click the link above.
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