Feb. 13, 2004

Northwestern-South Alabama results
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EVANSTON, Ill.--Northwestern's seventh-ranked women's tennis team returned to Combe Tennis Center in style, knocking down No. 37 South Alabama 6-1 for its fifth win over a ranked opponent this season.

After a week in which they had a 2-1 showing at the prestigious USTA-ITA National Team Indoor Championship, the Wildcats (6-1) continued their strong play by nearly sweeping the singles matches and losing just one doubles match.

"The score does not reflect how close the match was," said head coach Claire Pollard. "South Alabama came with nothing to lose, and they played pretty well."

Alexis "Hera" Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) cruised to an 8-1 win over Klara Jarova and Andrea Kurekova at No. 2 to lead off the doubles matches. Top-ranked Jessica Rush (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School) and Cristelle Grier (Surrey, England/Putney) followed with an 8-5 decision against Katarina Palenikova and Catherine Perkins at No. 1 to earn the point for NU.

The Wildcats then struck first in singles when 4th-ranked Grier romped Kurekova 6-1, 6-3 at No.1 for her seventh-straight win. The Big Ten Athlete of the Week improved her team-leading record to 17-2, including 7-0 in dual matches.

After dropping the first set, Prousis gave NU its third point when she stormed back to take down Dominika Nemcovicova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4. Rush clinched the match by defeating No. 85 Palenikova 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2.

"It says a lot for our team that we were able to win like we did (three three-set wins) when other teams would have buckled," said Pollard. "This win will definitely help us when we face Harvard."

The Wildcats take on the 11th-ranked Crimson at 6 p.m. Sunday at Combe Tennis Center.