Northwestern
Minnesota
No. 9 Northwestern Blanks Minnesota, 7-0
4/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 8, 2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- Northwestern's ninth-ranked women's tennis team swept all three doubles matches and earned wins at every singles position to cruise to a 7-0 shutout of the Minnesota Golden Gophers Saturday at the Baseline Tennis Center. The shutout gives Northwestern six in its last seven matches and the Wildcats have earned shutout wins over all but one of their conference opponents this season.
Northwestern took a quick 1-0 lead by taking wins at all three doubles positions.
Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) earned the first win of the day for the 'Cats when they blanked Minnesota's Shelby Rohrer and Jenna Tellefsen at No. 3 doubles 8-0.
Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) and Feriel Esseghir (Sarasota, Fla./Brickhouse Academy) then clinched the match for the Wildcats by topping Minnesota's Ida Malmberg and Nischela Reddy 8-5 at No. 1. Minnesota took a 5-4 lead in the match, but Grier and Esseghir roared back to take the next four games and win.
With the doubles point all wrapped up, Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) and Alexis Conill (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) improved to 4-0 this spring at the No. 2 spot with an 8-5 win over the Golden Gophers' Danielle Mousseau and Mariana Spilca. The Minnesota squad jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but Northwestern outlasted the Gophers in the end.
Northwestern's doubles success carried over into singles play as well.
Ghazal quickly extended NU's lead to 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of Minnesota's Jane Anderson at No. 5. With the win, Ghazal improves to 14-3 in dual play and has won nine-consecutive matches.
No. 44 Rose continued her flawless spring by not giving up a game to Malmberg at No. 2 singles. Rose won her 22nd-straight singles match with the 6-0, 6-0 victory, and she now stands just six wins shy of tying Grier's school record of 28-consecutive singles wins.
The eighth-ranked Grier clinched the match for Northwestern when she nearly pulled out Northwestern's third singles shutout of the day. Grier topped Reddy 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, extending her winning streak to seven.
At No. 3, Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) beat Mousseau 6-3, 6-2 to extend the Wildcats' lead to 5-0.
Esseghir then made it 6-0 NU when she beat Spilca 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.
Conill then completed the shutout for the 'Cats with a win at No. 6. After dropping her first set versus Marina Bugaenco, Conill took the second set and fought through a tight third-set tiebreaker for the 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (8) win.
With the win, Northwestern improves to 14-4 on the year, while bringing its Big Ten record to a perfect 6-0.
The Wildcats return to action at 11 a.m. Sunday, April 9, as they face No. 33 Iowa in Iowa City.
Minnesota vs. #9 Northwestern April 8, 2006 Baseline Tennis Center Minneapolis, Minn.Singles 1. #8 Cristelle Grier (NU) def. Nischela Reddy (MN), 6-0, 6-1 2. #44 Georgia Rose (NU) def. Ida Malmberg (MN), 6-0, 6-0 3. Jamie Peisel (NU) def. Danielle Mousseau (MN), 6-3, 6-2 4. Feriel Esseghir (NU) def. Mariana Spilca (MN), 6-4, 6-4 5. Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Jane Anderson (MN), 6-0, 6-0 6. Alexis Conill (NU) def. Marina Bugaenco (MN), 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8) Order of finish: 5,2,1,3,4,6
Doubles 1. Esseghir/Grier (NU) def. Malmberg/Reddy (MN), 8-5 2. Conill/Rose (NU) def. Mousseau/Spilca (MN), 8-5 3. Ghazal/Alexis Prousis (NU) def. Rohrer/Tellefsen (MN), 8-0 Order of finish: 3,1,2
#9 Northwestern def. Minnesota, 7-0
Players Mentioned
