April 1, 2006

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's sixth-ranked women's tennis team started hot out of the gate and never looked back en route to a 7-0 shutout of 26th-ranked Indiana Saturday at the Combe Tennis Center. The Wildcats recorded their fourth-consecutive shutout win while not dropping a single set to the Hoosiers.

Northwestern got the momentum going by sweeping the doubles competition.

Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) and Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) notched the first win of the day for the 'Cats when they topped Alba Berdala and Cecile Perton at No. 3 doubles 8-4. The duo now stands at 11-2 at the No. 3 position this season.

Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) and Feriel Esseghir (Sarasota, Fla./Brickhouse Academy) then clinched the doubles point for Northwestern with a an 8-6 victory over Sarah Batty and Laura McGaffigan at No. 1 doubles.

Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) and Alexis Conill (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) completed the doubles sweep for the 'Cats when they topped Sigrid Fischer and Brianna Williams 8-6 at No. 2 doubles.

The Wildcats kept the wins coming in the singles portion, winning all seven singles contests to claim the match sweep.

Ninth-ranked Grier took the first singles win of the day for the Wildcats when she didn't drop a game at the No. 2 singles spot. Grier topped McGaffigan 6-0, 6-0 for her fourth-straight singles win.

No. 26 Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) saw her first action of the day in singles. Prousis rolled past Williams 6-0, 6-2, increasing her win total to a team-high 28.

Esseghir came through with a win at No. 5 singles, clinching the match for NU. The senior recorded her fourth-consecutive straight-set victory by beating Indiana's Berdala 6-3, 6-3.

Thirty sixth-ranked Rose won her 19th-straight singles match by rolling past Batty at No. 1 singles 7-6, 6-0. Rose improves her record at No. 1 singles to 2-0 with the win.

Peisel tallied the Wildcats' fifth win of the day when she beat Fischer at No. 4 singles 7-6, 6-4. The victory is the fifth-consecutive for Peisel.

Ghazal wrapped up the shutout for the Wildcats with a win at No. 6 singles. Ghazal topped Perton 7-5, 6-1.

With the win, Northwestern improves to 12-3 this season and remains unbeaten in league play.

The Wildcats return to action by hosting conference foe Penn State Sunday, April 2 at 11 a.m. at the Combe Tennis Center.

No. 6 Northwestern 7, No. 26 Indiana 0
Doubles:
1) Cristelle Grier/Feriel Esseghir (NU) def. Sarah Batty/Laura McGaffigan (IU) 8-6
2) Georgia Rose/Alexis Conill (NU) def. Sigrid Fischer/Brianna Williams (IU) 8-6
3) Jamie Peisel/Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Alba Berdala/Cecile Perton (IU) 8-4
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
Singles:
1) #36 Georgia Rose (NU) def. Sarah Batty (IU) 7-6, 6-0
2) #9 Cristelle Grier (NU) def. Laura McGaffigan (IU) 6-0, 6-0
3) #26 Alexis Prousis (NU) def. Brianna Williams (IU) 6-0, 6-2
4) Jamie Peisel (NU) def. Sigrid Fischer (IU) 7-6, 6-4
5) Feriel Esseghir (NU) def. Alba Berdala (IU) 6-3, 6-3
6) Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Cecile Perton (IU) 7-5, 6-1
Order of Finish: 2,3,5,1,4,6