After dominating conference opponents No. 29 Iowa and No. 30 Minnesota this weekend, Northwestern (22-1, 9-0 Big Ten) showed once again why it is the No. 1 team in the nation.
The Cats defeated Iowa 6-1 on Saturday in Iowa City. After losing their first doubles point of the season against No. 20 Notre Dame last Wednesday, the Cats switched their doubles lineup. The new combinations were successful, as the Cats came out strong to sweep the doubles point.
Sophomore Lauren Lui and junior Georgia Rose, ranked No. 14 in the nation, won 8-1 at the No. 1 spot. Both the No. 2 and No. 3 pairs won in a similarly dominating fashion, defeating their opponents 8-5 to complete the sweep.
In singles play, the bottom three seeds quickly sealed the win for the Cats. At the No. 5 spot, Nazlie Ghazal won two straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, to give the Cats a 2-0 lead. Soon after, both Lui and sophomore Suzie Matzenauer easily defeated the Hawkeyes in two sets, shutting them out in the second. Lui's win, her 15th straight, gave the Cats a 4-0 lead to clinch the match.
Murray and Mosolova had more difficulty defeating their opponents after dropping their first sets. They both came back to win their second sets and dominated in superbreakers, giving the Cats a 6-0 lead.
Rose won her first set 6-3, but lost the second 1-6, forcing a third set in which Iowa's Milica Veselinovic triumphed 7-6. The final match score was 6-1.
"The reality is we're going to see everyone's best against us," NU coach Claire Pollard said. "They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We have to embrace the fact that other teams play the best against us, and that's a good thing for us."
Against Minnesota, the Cats kept the same doubles lineup, and experienced equal success. Murray and Matzenauer quickly defeated their opponents 8-1, and Lui and Rose won 8-5 to seal the doubles point, giving the Cats an early 1-0 advantage. The combo of Lui and Rose is now 11-0 for the season.
2008 Woodie Awards
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