Prousis Leads the Way; 'Cats Dominate Michigan For Ninth-Straight Big Ten Title, 4-0
April 29, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS -- Northwestern captured a record-tying ninth-straight Big Ten title Sunday at Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center by rolling past third-seeded Michigan, 4-0. Senior Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) captured the clincher for the 'Cats at No. 3 singles with an impressive 6-1, 6-2 victory. NU won the doubles point and got singles wins from Prousis, sophomore Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and freshman Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid). "Our kids have a lot of experience and were ready to go," head coach Claire Pollard said. "No. 1 doubles was huge for us and I thought that winning that match so convincingly gave us a lot of momentum." "We got off to quick starts and dominated at the bottom," Pollard said. "That was the key to today's match." The fifth-ranked Wildcats improve to 21-4 while Michigan falls to 17-6. NU had a loose and fun-filled warm up, but the fifth-ranked Wildcats were ready and focused to take their ninth-straight conference title. The Wildcats staked themselves to early leads on all three doubles courts, but the No. 1 doubles pair of Prousis and Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) stole the show. The senior NCAA champion Prousis put on a clinic with her net play, leading the team out to a 6-1 lead over Jenny Kuehn and Chisako Sugiyama. The 10th-ranked duo surrendered only two games en route to an 8-2 win at the top doubles spot. "Prousis put on a clinic at No. 1 doubles today," Pollard said. "She showed why she is the NCAA champion."
The other two matches were approaching their respective conclusions as dark clouds began to loom and the winds picked up. Under a slight drizzle, the No. 2 tandem of Lui and sophomore Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) won their match 8-4 over Kara Delicata and Tania Mahtani.
The No. 3 match between NU's Alexis Conill (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) and Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) and Lindsey Howard and Allie Shafner was abandonded with the Wildcats leading 7-5. The drizzle stopped as the teams prepared for singles. It was evident from the opening serves that the Wildcats would not be denied their record-tying ninth-consecutive title. Lui, who did not earn the nickname "Speeds" for her fast play, was the first Wildcat off the courts for the second time in NU's three tournament matches. Lui cruised to a straight-set 6-1, 6-3 win over Mahtani at No. 4 for her 11th-straight victory. The bottom of the lineup continued to dominate, with Ghazal pounding out a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Shafner at No. 6. The sophomore is now on a 12-match winning streak. With Rose wrapped up in a first-set tiebreak, all eyes turned to the Wildcats' lone senior. Prousis had taken the first set from Delicata, 6-1, and found herself up 5-2 in the second with a chance to clinch the Big Ten title. The senior rose to the occasion and gave the Wildcats a 4-0 win over the Wolverines in the Big Ten final. "Once the match got going, I felt ready to play," Prousis said. "I knew the team needed me and I got so excited during doubles and never looked back." "I wanted to play well in my last Big Ten Championship," Prousis said. "I wanted to be as positive as I could and this was a great day for me and my teammates." Murray was up 6-0, 5-4 on Kuehn at No. 2, Rose was at 6-6 with Sugiyama at No. 1 and Robison was down 3-6, 2-1 at No. 5 when play was ended. The Wildcats will wait for Tuesday's NCAA Selection Show to find out who they will face in the NCAA tournament.
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