Oct. 11, 2013
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern freshman Jillian Rooney won her qualifying match Friday morning to earn a spot in the ITA Midwest Regional main draw.
With a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Emily Reuland of Bowling Green, Rooney continued her winning ways at the championships as she has yet to drop a set. She will face Nina Sujashvili from Detroit in the first round of the main draw, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Maddie Lipp also had a chance Friday morning to qualify for the main draw, but she ultimately fell to Ohio State's Sandy Niehaus 6-0, 6-2. Brooke Rischbieth was victorious in her consolation match against Akron's Ksenia Berestetska after Berestetska did not finish the match. Manon Peri played a match Friday as well, defeating Katelyn Nguyen of Toledo, 6-4, 6-0.
Doubles play in the main draw also began on Friday. Peri and Lok Sze Leung made up the only Northwestern duo to compete in the first round. They captured a win over Nini Sujashvili and Kathleen Hawkins of Western Michigan, 8-6 to advance to the second round where they were narrowly defeated by Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland of Bowling Green, 8-5.
Three other Wildcat doubles teams had first round byes and played just one match on Friday. Alicia Barnett and Veronica Corning powered their way into the third round with an 8-1 decision over Eastern Michigan's Diana Davitaia and Maria Paula Ribero. Belinda Niu and Rischbieth were also dominant in their match against Marcy Huck and Kristine Lindal from IPFW, winning 8-2. The team of Lipp and Nida Hamilton looked very strong, posting an 8-0 win over Shannon Newnes and Olga Shkundina of Akron.
The doubles main draw Round of 16 will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday morning followed by the singles main draw first and second rounds throughout the rest of the day.