Northwestern
Texas
Wildcats Best No. 28 Texas in Evanston, 6-1
2/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 8, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern overcame 28th-ranked Texas with a convincing 6-1 win at Combe Tennis Center in Evanston Sunday afternoon, improving to 3-0 in dual contests in 2009. Next for the top-ranked 'Cats is a trip to Wisconsin for the 16-team ITA Indoor Team Championship tournament beginning Friday, Feb. 13.
Against the Longhorns Sunday, NU captured two matches in doubles play, where junior Samantha Murray and freshman Elena Chernyakova needed just 30 minutes to claim an 8-1 win against UT's Amanda Craddock and Sarah Lancaster at No. 3. Over on court four, the tandem of Maria Mosolova and Keri Robison were also in control of their match from the start, jumping out to a 3-0 lead against UT's Krista Damico and Caroline Larsson. Robison put the finishing touches on an 8-2 win when she slotted a backhand shot at the net between the Longhorn duo.
Northwestern sent the 25th-ranked tandem of Lauren Lui and Georgia Rose out to court three for the No. 1 doubles match against No. 9 Vanja Corovic and Marija Milic. Texas rallied from a two-game deficit to tie the match at four before the 'Cats managed to take a 7-4 lead. Lui wowed the Wildcat faithful when she tracked down a deep lob from her position at the net and landed her no-look shot in the far corner of Texas' end, a shot which the Longhorns could not return.
But Texas responded by winning the next two games to get within one game at 7-6. They then managed to break the 'Cats serve, evening the match at seven apiece and sending the contest to a tiebreaker. Corovic and Milic capitalized on their momentum, getting out to a 6-1 lead before successfully serving on match point for the victory.
At No. 1 singles, Mosolova defended her No. 1 overall singles ranking with a 6-2, 6-4 win against No. 60 Vanja Corovic, who dealt Mosolova one of her six losses as a freshman in 2007-08. Down 2-1 in the second, Mosolova held serve to square the match at two before breaking Corovic to take a 3-2 lead. Serving for the match up 5-2, Corovic brought Mosolova to two deuce points before breaking serve to prolong the match. After a hold by Corovic, Mosolova had no difficulty closing out the final game to win 6-2, 6-4, for her 18th victory of the season.
Rose, ranked No. 28 nationally in singles play, coasted to a 6-0, 6-0 victory against No. 116 Krista Damico to improve to 11-5 this season. At No. 3, Murray ran through the first set to the tune of a 6-0 score against Caroline Larsson. But Larsson came out strong in the second set, holding leads of 3-0 and 4-1. After that it was all Murray, as the 24th-ranked singles player went on to a 7-5 second-set win, finishing the match with a winner from the baseline to break Larsson's serve.
Ending simultaneously with Murray's match on an adjacent court was senior Nazlie Ghazal's No. 5 match against Amanda Craddock. Ghazal won in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to clinch the match for the 'Cats and pick up her 15th singles victory, while Lui distanced herself from Texas' Stephanie Davison as the match wore on to win 6-4, 6-1, and improve to 16-7.
The No. 6 singles contest between NU's Keri Robison and UT's Sarah Lancaster was a back-and-forth affair, particularly in the second set. Both players continually held serve, with Lancaster gaining a 6-5 edge late in the frame, but the Longhorn managed to break Robison's serve to win the match, 6-2, 7-5
No. 1 Northwestern 6, No. 28 Texas 1
Singles
No. 1: Maria Mosolova (NU) def. Vanja Corovic (UT), 6-2, 6-4
No. 2: Georgia Rose (NU) def. Krista Damico (UT), 6-0, 6-0
No. 3: Samantha Murray (NU) def. Caroline Larsson (UT), 6-0, 7-5
No. 4: Lauren Lui (NU) def. Stephanie Davison (UT), 6-4, 6-1
No. 5: Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Amanda Craddock (UT), 6-3, 6-3
No. 6: Sarah Lancaster (UT) def. Keri Robison (NU), 6-2, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1: Corovic/Milic (UT) def. Lui/Rose (NU), 8-7 (1)
No. 2: Mosolova/Robison (NU) def. Damico/Larsson (UT), 8-2
No. 3: Chernyakova/Murray (NU) def. Craddock/Lancaster (UT), 8-1
Players Mentioned
