Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Wisconsin
No. 1 Northwestern Proves Too Much for Badgers in 7-0 Sweep
3/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 4, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Ranked No. 1 for the fifth consecutive week, Northwestern continued its tradition of getting off to a good start in conference play by winning its Big Ten opener at Wisconsin, 7-0, on Wednesday. NU did not drop a set in singles play and surrendered just five total games in its three doubles matches.
Playing at the site of its ITA Indoor Team Championship victory last month, NU (10-1, 1-0) wasted no time taking command in doubles play. Wisconsin (5-7, 0-1) won the toss and elected to serve first in all three matches, but the Wildcats managed to break the Badgers' opening serve at the first and third positions.
At the second spot, Maria Mosolova and Keri Robison held serve and went on to break UW in the third game to gain a 2-1 edge. Later in the match, the Wildcats broke UW's serve once again to go up 7-2 before sealing the win easily in the ensuing game.
Northwestern's No. 1 doubles pair of Georgia Rose and Lauren Lui, who are up to No. 22 in the most recent ITA doubles poll, went up 4-2 against the 44th-ranked duo of Liz Carpenter and Angela Chupa to gain a stranglehold on the match before eventually winning 8-3. Carpenter and Chupa entered Wednesday's match having defeated three top-40 opponents this season.
In singles play, Nazlie Ghazal was first off the courts for the 'Cats, upping her career record in Big Ten play to 30-1 with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Ernese Kardhordo. With a one-game lead in the first at 3-2, Ghazal began pulling away to put to rest any thoughts of an upset.
Lui remained unbeaten in her career in Big Ten action by defeating Aleksandra Markovic, 6-2, 6-0, holding her serve in the final game to seal the win. Not long after, it was Mosolova, ranked No. 2 nationally, who clinched the match for the 'Cats by downing Liz Carpenter, 6-1, 6-1, for her 22nd singles win.
No. 36 Samantha Murray played at second singles in place of Rose and had no difficulties topping Katya Mirnova, 6-2, 6-3. The final two matches on the courts were at the back end of the lineup, where freshman Stacey Lee won her second dual match in as many tries this year with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jessica Seyferth at sixth singles.
Robison battled a talented freshman in Angela Chupa, who won consecutive matches last weekend for the Badgers against Missouri and Oklahoma. Trailing by a set, Chupa came back from down 5-3 in the second, tying the match at five before Robison gained a one-game advantage. But Chupa again drew even, sending the set to a tiebreaker where the Badger jumped to a 2-0 lead. From there it was all Robison as she improved to 8-2 in duals by winning the tiebreaker 7-3.
NU returns to Big Ten competition with an 11 a.m. match at Michigan State on Saturday.
No. 1 Northwestern 7, Wisconsin 0
Singles
No. 1: No. 2 Maria Mosolova (NU) def. Liz Carpenter (UW), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2: No. 36 Samantha Murray (NU) def. Katya Mirnova (UW), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3: No. 109 Lauren Lui (NU) def. Aleksandra Markovic (UW), 6-2, 6-0
No. 4: Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Ernese Kardhordo (UW), 6-2, 6-1
No. 5: Keri Robison (NU) def. Angela Chupa (UW), 6-2, 7-6 (3)
No. 6: Stacey Lee (NU) def. Jessica Seyferth (UW), 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1: No. 22 Lui/Rose (NU) def. No. 44 Carpenter/Chupa (UW), 8-3
No. 2: No. 42 Mosolova/Robison (NU) def. Seyferth/Mirnova (UW), 8-2
No. 3: Chernyakova/Murray (NU) def. Dolan/Markovich (UW), 8-0
Players Mentioned
