The only thing that seemed to slow down the Northwestern women’s tennis team in its 6-1 victory over DePaul on Wednesday was the loose balls that strayed onto neighboring courts, stopping play every few minutes.
Despite the distractions, the Wildcats dominated, starting with No. 1 singles player Marine Piriou. The nation’s No. 9 player easily defeated DePaul’s Szilvia Keleman 6-3, 6-3.
“I lost the six games – she didn’t win them,” Piriou said of the few blemishes on her afternoon record.
“DePaul played like they had nothing to lose,” she added. “That’s really tough to play against. (Keleman) went for the big shots. I didn’t expect such powerful hits.”
Piriou, a junior, also teamed together with senior Lia Jackson to win the No. 1 doubles match 8-1.
The Cats rolled to a 3-0 lead 30 minutes into play, breezing through all three doubles matches. NU then proceeded to drop just one singles match. The lone setback came from Simona Petrutiu, who fell in the No. 5 spot to Natalie Matko 6-4, 6-4.
NU head coach Claire Pollard said she thought Petrutiu would bounce back quickly.
“I’ll spend some time with her,” Pollard said. “We’ll have to focus on getting her at 100 percent.”
Petrutiu did take home one victory, playing alongside sophomore Jessica Rush in the No. 2 doubles match. The pair defeated Natalie Matko and Kadi Hilpus 8-1.
Rush also picked up a singles win 6-2, 6-1 in the three-spot over DePaul’s Stephanie Matko. Jackson, ranked No. 55 nationally, won at the No. 2 singles spot, defeating Hilpus 6-0, 6-0.
Making her collegiate debut was freshman Andrea Yung, who dominated Karen Falduto 6-0, 6-1. Yung admitted to having a few rookie jitters in her first match.
“I was very nervous,” she said. “I tightened up a little to start the match but picked up my confidence as things went on.”
Rounding out the NU victory was sophomore Ruth Barnes, who quickly dispatched Megan Stewart 6-1, 6-1. Barnes joined with Stacy Kokx to win the third doubles match over Stewart and Falduto 8-1.
Pollard was impressed by NU’s performance, and she spread the credit to the entire team.
“Our doubles looked excellent,” Pollard said. “That should be solid all year long. Barnes and Yung did a great job. We worked hard at being athletic and dominant. It was an area we really focused on.”
Pollard credited DePaul with playing a great match as well.
“I thought they played very well in singles,” she said. “We just didn’t make many mistakes.”
The Cats were making their debut at NU’s new Combe Indoor Tennis Center, which opened last weekend with a pair of men’s meets.
The new facility held a bigger crowd, and Pollard and the players were pleased with the improvement from last year’s accommodations.
“I love it,” Yung said. “It really makes practicing better. It improves our game big time.”
Pollard was equally enthusiastic with the new home.
“It’s unbelievable,” she said, admiring the increased number of courts. “It cuts the game time down from about six to four hours. It’s convenient and fun from my point of view.”
