Frustration mounted for the Northwestern doubles team of junior Lia Jackson and Simona Petrutiu as their match progressed against Florida’s No. 3 duo.
But Jackson and Petrutiu quickly shook it off.
“They played against a very unorthodox style,” NU women’s tennis coach Claire Pollard said. “But they managed to stay together and didn’t let it get to them too much.”
Jackson and Petrutiu prevailed 8-6 over Annika Bengtsson and Lindsay Dawaf, winning the Flight B doubles draw of the Adidas Classic in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday. The victory was the highlight of the Wildcats’ weekend at the individual tournament.
Pollard called the win a “big boost” for Jackson and Petrutiu and for NU doubles as a whole, adding that Bengtsson and Dawaf will be big factors in No. 2 Florida’s national championship bid.
“This is the kind of competition we’ll face in pressure situations,” said Jackson, who won her first two singles matches. “But then it’ll count for the team, not just for us as individuals.”
TO BE THE BEST … : The top-tier competition helped the No. 16 Wildcats see “how good the best really are,” Pollard said.
“It is going to take even more work to get up the ladder,” Pollard said. “But we really came away with the feeling that we are a great team.”
In addition to Florida, the Cats faced players from No. 4 Duke, No. 13 Notre Dame and No. 17 Tennessee.
“There isn’t one moment that is more important than any other,” Pollard said. “Not every match is the match, but we can’t afford to take a tough loss. What the players have to learn is consistency.”
Jackson saw the weekend as a chance to hone her game.
“This weekend was, for me, a huge opportunity just to improve my skills and get better,” she said.
ELEMENT-ARY: For the NU men’s tennis team, the shift from indoor to outdoor play at the Adidas Classic was tough — but the competition was tougher.
“Indoors you play a bigger, more powerful game,” coach Paul Torricelli said. “Outside you have the wind and sun, and points are slower and longer. It’s harder work.
“You have to make a physical and psychological adjustment.”
Sophomore Jackie Jenkins — who lost his first-round singles match against Tennessee’s Paul Podbury — said the change made the tournament more difficult for him.
“It was hard getting adjusted to the ball speed,” Jenkins said. “But I was able to play at the same level as I have been all season. The competition rose a few levels.”
The No. 51 Wildcats competed against individuals from No. 2 Tennessee, No. 4 Duke and No. 12 Pepperdine.
Experience in outdoor play will help the Cats at their next tournament, the Blue-Gray Invitational on March 15-18 in Montgomery, Ala.
