Although the Northwestern women’s tennis team had beaten No. 30 Wisconsin (17-9) twice in the last month, sophomore Ruth Barnes had yet to win a match in either contest.
But in Sunday’s NCAA regional championship against the Badgers, the Wildcats’ No. 6 singles player earned two wins – including the clinching match in NU’s 4-0 victory.
Down 5-3 in the second set to Wisconsin’s Lindsay Martin, who beat Barnes twice during the regular season, Barnes rallied back to win the match 6-3, 7-5 and send NU to its third straight Sweet 16. The 16th-seeded Cats, who shut out Illinois-Chicago (17-12) in the first round Saturday, will meet No. 1 Florida in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday.
“We talk about having demons on the team, and I told Ruth this morning it was her opportunity to erase all her demons and put them deep down inside,” NU coach Claire Pollard said. “I think that’s a huge win for her. She lost to the kid twice, but I knew she was capable. It was just a question of making sure she believed in herself, and she did today.”
Barnes and doubles partner Andrea Yung won the Cats’ first match of the day, defeating the Badgers’ No. 3 doubles team of Martin and Katie McGaffigan, 8-3. NU clinched the doubles point when the No. 1 team of seniors Lia Jackson and Simona Petrutiu took an 8-3 win over Wisconsin’s Linda Mues and Lara Vojnov.
Doubles has been strong for the Cats all season, mostly because of talented No. 1 and No. 2 tandems. A win at the No. 3 spot was a welcome occurrence for Barnes and Yung, who are used to watching their older teammates take care of the first point.
“It’s not that demoralizing because they’re obviously fantastic teams,” Barnes said. “But on the other hand, winning today gave us a lot of confidence.”
NU wasted no time expanding its 1-0 advantage, taking the first set in five of the six singles matches. Jackson was the first off the court with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Mues at No. 2. Junior Marine Piriou followed suit at No. 1, defeating Vanessa Rauh 6-0, 6-3 to give the Cats a 3-0 lead with four matches left.
Jackson’s quick victory, also against a player who had previously beaten her twice, set the pace for the rest of the match.
“That’s the best feeling, to come off first and get rolling,” Jackson said. “Especially because I’ve had a really tough time playing her, and it finally came my way.”
With Yung down a set at No. 5 and Jessica Rush locked in a three-set battle at No. 3, Petrutiu and Barnes each had match points on Courts 1 and 2. Barnes broke Martin’s serve to win her fourth straight game and clinch the match.
In the first round, NU (23-5) took just two hours to defeat Illinois-Chicago, dominating the Flames in both doubles and singles for a
4-0 win. Straight-set wins by Barnes, Petrutiu and Yung clinched the victory, and the remaining three matches were abandoned with commanding NU leads.
The Badgers upset No. 21 Notre Dame, 4-2, on Saturday to advance to the second round.
NU now faces the unenviable task of trying to upset the Gators, who feature the No. 1 player in the country in Jessica Lehnoff. But Pollard said the Cats aren’t ready for their season to end.
“We’ll go in there loose. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Pollard said. “But we’re certainly not satisfied at this point. We’ve set our goals very high this year. Florida is an excellent team and it’s going to be a tough task, but we’re not just happy to be there.”
Jackson is optimistic of the Cats’ chances against the Gators.
“It’s a great opportunity,” she said. “It’s always good to play the high seeds early in the tournament and shock them. I feel like, in a weird way, we can really do it.”
