No. 4 Northwestern Beats No. 5 Duke, 5-2
2/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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Feb. 20, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Fourth-ranked Northwestern (9-1, 1-0 Big Ten) defeated fifth-ranked Duke (6-2) by a score of 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Combe Tennis Center.
The 'Cats took two of three doubles matches and four of six singles matches to earn their sixth victory over a top-25 team this year.
Valerie Vladea upset the 96th-ranked singles player -- Saras Arasu -- handily, 6-2, 6-3. She also teamed with junior Jamie Peisel to win at No. 2 doubles. Vladea has won five of her last six singles matches and four of her last six doubles contests.
Vladea and Peisel shot out to a 4-0 lead at No. 2 doubles, but the duo fell into a bit of a slump and dropped the next four games, tying the match at 4-4. They then took a key 6-4 lead in game 10 after a series of deuces. Later, with a 7-5 lead, Vladea served a perfect game for the match.
Freshman Audra Cohen and junior Cristelle Grier -- the nation's top-ranked duo -- survived a scare at the No. 1 spot. The duo stumbled out of the gate, falling into a 5-2 hole.
Their opposition, Duke's Cargill and Zika, had an opportunity to get to a 6-2 lead as they went to serve. But Cohen and Grier battened down the hatches and broke the Blue Devils to close the deficit to 5-3. Grier than served a win in the next game, drawing Duke's duo even closer.
Cohen and Grier officially hit a groove and rolled from there to a 8-6 win, improving their record to a team-leading 20-2 overall, 8-2 duals.
The 'Cats then won the top four singles matches -- Cohen, Grier, Alexis Prousis and Vladea, respectively -- to ensure their ninth victory of the year. It was their second-consecutive win over a top-10 team after beating ninth-ranked North Carolina 4-3 yesterday.
Northwestern is next in action against yet another top-25 team Saturday, Feb. 26 when 13th-ranked Texas comes to Combe Tennis Center.
Northwestern 5, Duke 2
Doubles
No. 1 - #1 Cohen/Grier (NU) def. Cargill/Zika (DU), 8-6
No. 2 - Blaszak/Arasu (DU) def. Prousis/Roemer, 8-4
No. 3 - Peisel/Vladea (NU) def. Celtour/Goyer (DU), 8-5
Singles
No. 1 - #1 Audra Cohen (NU) def. Katie Baszak (DU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 - #4 Cristelle Grier (NU) def. Jennifer Zitka (DU), 7-6 (4), 6-4
No. 3 - #49 Alexis Prousis (NU) def. Clelia Deltour (DU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 - Valerie Vladea (NU) def. Saras Arasu (DU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 - Kristin Cargill (DU) def. Jamie Peisel (NU), 5-7, 6-1, 10-4
No. 6 - Tory Zawacki (DU) def. Feriel Esseghir (NU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
