Top-Ranked Northwestern Tops UM in Women's Tennis, 6-1
Feb. 13, 2009
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Madison, Wis. – Top-ranked and top-seeded Northwestern University proved too much on Friday as the Wildcats defeated the University of Miami Hurricanes, 6-1, in first round action of the ITA Women’s Tennis National Team Indoor Tournament held at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
The match was one of the finest of the day as far as records were concerned, pitting a total of six nationally ranked singles players against each other, with a total of seven ranked players competing overall. Adding doubles play, there were six rankings involved out of nine positions played on the day.
Northwestern (4-0) started out the day sweeping the doubles matches to take an early 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
In the doubles point, Miami’s No. 1 position of Laura Vallverdu and Julia Cohen fought hard against the No. 25 ranked duo of Northwestern’s Lauren Lui and Georgia Rose before falling in the end, 9-7. At the No. 2 position, the `Canes 14th-ranked combo of Bianca Eichkorn and Michaela Kissell suffered their first setback of the year, falling to the Wildcats’ Keri Robison and Maria Mosolova, 8-4.
In singles play, Miami (6-1) took Northwestern to three sets in three matches.
The nation’s top-ranked Maria Mosolova defeated UM’s 8th-ranked Julia Cohen in a three-set thriller on scores of 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 at the No. 1 position. For Cohen, it was her first setback in the spring, dropping her record for the year to 11-3 overall.
“I think for Julia, this shows her some things that she needs to work on,” expressed head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews. “It’s a good loss, sort of, since it was early in February, and she can see what she needs to do for the next time she plays Mosolova, or someone of that nature.”
At the No. 2 position, UM junior Laura Vallverdu, ranked No. 114 in the nation, fell for the first time in the spring to 28th-ranked Georgia Rose in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Vallverdu holds a record of 8-4 on the year as a whole.
The highlight of the day for UM was No. 50 Michaela Kissell’s upset of 28th-ranked Samantha Murray in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. For Kissell, she keeps her record clean in the spring at 7-0, while upping her season record to 17-5. The sophomore from Hostetter, Pennsylvania is just one win away from tying her record for wins from last season.
“I’m really proud of Kissell,” stated Yaroshuk-Tews. “She played well today, and really attacked her opponent from the start and finished her early. She’s playing really good tennis right now for us.”
Bianca Eichkorn, ranked No. 50, fell for the second time this spring as she dropped a 6-1, 6-2 decision to Lauren Lui of Northwestern. Meanwhile, UM freshman Gabriela Mejia was downed in a three-set affair by Nazlie Ghazal with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 line.
Junior Claudia Wasilewski was defeated by NU’s Keri Robison at the No. 6 position, 6-2, 6-1, moving the Wildcats into tomorrow’s quarterfinal round action against another Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) foe, Duke University. The two will square-off at 3:30 pm.
“We lost to a very talented team today in Northwestern,” continued Yaroshuk-Tews. “I thought we played well, but we definitely see where we need to improve, and what we need to work on in the coming weeks. We have some work to do, and our girls are going to want to work harder now to perform at a higher level to defeat a team like Northwestern next time.”
Miami will now take on host University of Wisconsin tomorrow at 9 a.m. back at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison. Updated match scores and results will be available through the ITA website at www.itatennis.com.
