Feb. 24, 2008

Results

DURHAM, N.C. -- No. 2 Northwestern picked up its 11th win of the year and seventh against a top-15 opponent by topping eighth-ranked Duke Sunday at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, 5-2. Fifth-ranked Maria Mosolova captured the clincher at No. 1 singles.

With the win, Northwestern improves to 11-1 and 7-1 against opponents in the top-15. The loss is Duke's first of the year and the Blue Devils fall to 5-1.

Northwestern switched up its doubles teams again and it proved successful as the 'Cats swept all three doubles matches. At No. 3, Mosolova and Alexis Conill won their match over Reka Zsilinszka and Ellah Nze, 8-4.

NU took a 1-0 lead in the dual with a win at No. 2. Suzie Matzenauer and Samantha Murray downed Elizabeth Plotkin and Jessi Robinson, 9-7.

At No. 1, Georgia Rose and Lauren Lui, who played together Saturday and are ranked 44th in the nation, topped sixth-ranked Amanda Granson and Melissa Mang, 8-7 (7-5).

Singles was closely-contested on all six courts, but the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead when the 38th-ranked Plotkin retired out of her match with Lui at No. 4.

Duke closed to 2-1 with a win at No. 3 singles. No. 13 Zsilinszka defeated No. 25 Murray in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. NU got the point right back and took a 3-1 lead with a win at No. 6. Matzenauer took her first set over Granson, 6-3, but surrendered the second set by the same score. The hard-hitting sophomore put the pedal down in the third and breezed to a 6-0 win to take the match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

NU clinched the dual at No. 1 where the fifth-ranked freshman Mosolova came back in the second set to win her match over Tara Iyer in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

At No. 5, Mang topped 69th-ranked Nazlie Ghazal in two sets, 7-6, 6-2. The Wildcats made the score 5-2 when Rose snapped a three-match losing streak with a three-set win over Ellah Nze. The third-ranked junior surrendered the first set, 6-4, but took the second frame, 6-3 and then dominated the match tiebreaker with the dual already sealed, 10-2.

Northwestern returns to action March 7 against Wisconsin. It will be the first of two weekend matches at the Combe Tennis Center as the 'Cats welcome Harvard on March 9.

#2 Northwestern 5, #8 Duke 2

Singles
No. 1 - #5 Mosolova (NU) def. Iyer (Duke), 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 - #3 Rose (NU) def. #16 Nze (Duke), 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-2)
No. 3 - #13 Zsilinszka (Duke) def. #25 Murray (NU), 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 - #42 Lui (NU) def. #38 Plotkin (Duke), 4-5, ret.
No. 5 - Mang (Duke) def. #69 Ghazal (NU), 7-6 (8), 6-2
No. 6 - Matzenauer (NU) def. Granson (Duke), 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
Order of finish: 4, 3, 6, 1, 5, 2 (clincher at #1)
Doubles
No. 1 - #44 Lui/Rose (NU) def. #6 Mang/Granson (Duke), 8-7 (5)
No. 2 - #48 Matzenauer/Murray (NU) def. Plotkin/Robinson (Duke), 9-7
No. 3 - Mosolova/Conill (NU) def. Zsilinszka/Nze (8-4)
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1 (clincher at #2)

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