Jan. 17, 2004

Northwestern-Eastern Michigan Results
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EVANSTON, Ill.--No. 14 Northwestern's women's tennis team opened its 2004 season with an easy 7-0 win over Eastern Michigan in front of an energized crowd at Combe Tennis Center.

"I thought we played well for our first match," said head coach Claire Pollard. "I am excited about how we looked out there. Eastern Michigan is a good team; they can certainly challenge a team if they are not ready."

The No. 1 tandem in the nation of Cristelle Grier (Surrey, England/Putney) and Jessica Rush (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School) helped the Wildcats (1-0) pick up the doubles point with their 8-0 blanking of the Eagles' (0-1) Victoria Domina and Kendra Clark.

"The first match (of the season) always take a little getting used to," said Rush, who improves to 14-1 with Grier. "Overall, I thought we played well."

Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) won their No. 2 doubles match 8-3, while Andrea Yung (San Marino, Calif./San Marino) and Connie Chiang (Oshkosh, Wis./Oshkosh West) had an 8-2 victory at No. 3.

At singles, NU continued its dominance with straight-set wins, including Rush's 6-1, 6-0 rout of Amalia Lincaru at No. 2. Ruth Barnes (Cambridge, England/Hills Road Sixth Form College) added a 6-1, 6-2 pounding of Marijana Adzic at No. 6, and Grier churned out a 6-2, 6-1 win over Domina at No. 1.

"We will take what happened today and work hard next week," said Pollard. "We are hopeful that we can get an upset of William & Mary next Sunday."

The Wildcats hit the road as they take on No. 8 William & Mary at 10 a.m. (CT) Sunday, Jan. 25 in Williamsburg, Va.

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