Wildcats Bury Gophers, 7-0
April 10, 2004
Northwestern-Minnesota Results
EVANSTON, Ill.--What a difference a year can make. Northwestern's ninth-ranked women's tennis team, which lost to Minnesota 4-3 in 2003 for one of its two losses in the Big Ten, took the reigns today in its dominating 7-0 win over the Golden Gophers at Combe Tennis Center. The victory, which improves the Wildcats to 14-4 (4-1 Big Ten), keeps the team's hopes alive for a top-seed for the Big Ten Championship. Meanwhile, Minnesota, winner of last year's regular season, fell to 2-15 (0-6). "Minnesota has a strong lineup at the top," said head coach Claire Pollard. "So I thought we did a great job by coming through with the sweep." NU began the match with a shutout in doubles for the first point. Connie Chiang (Oshkosh, Wis./Oshkosh West) and Andrea Yung (San Marino, Calif./San Marino) were the first duo to finish, breezing past Emily Bezek and Shelby Rohrer 8-0 at No. 3.
Second-ranked Cristelle Grier (Surrey, England/Epsom) and Jessica Rush (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School) came next with an 8-5 decision over Angela Buergis and Nischela Reddy at No. 1 to clinch, and then Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) followed suit by topping Ida Malmberg and Lindsay Risebrough 8-4 at No. 2.
Singles went quickly for the 'Cats. Yung and Ruth Barnes (Cambridge, England/Hills Road Sixth Form College) each stormed to 6-0, 6-0 wins over their opponents. Not long after, Prousis broke down Malmberg 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3 to clinch the match for Northwestern in about 2 hours, 30 minutes. Grier and Peisel finished next; their wins at No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, gave NU a 6-0 advantage. As a result, the closing match fell to Rush, who rallied to edge Reddy 6-7 (3), 6-1, 1-0 (7) at No. 2 to complete the nine-match sweep for NU. The Wildcats will next face No. 32 Iowa at 11 a.m. April 11 at Combe Tennis Center. No. 9 Northwestern 7, Minnesota 0
Singles
Doubles |
|