Northwestern tennis star Cristelle Grier’s spectacular season came to an end Thursday when she fell 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to Southern California’s Jewel Peterson.

In making it to the Elite Eight in singles play at the NCAA Championships, Grier advanced further in the tournament than any woman in NU history.

Grier’s defeat in the quarterfinals was her first singles loss since Nov. 8, when she fell to Florida’s Alexis Gordon in the ITA indoor championships.

In the dual match season, Grier won an NU-record 28 consecutive singles matches en route to leading the Wildcats to a fifth-straight Big Ten title.

After an eligibility issue held Grier out of the NCAA regionals team competition, NU officials argued the ruling. NU won its appeal, and the Surrey, England native was reinstated in time for the singles competition.

Grier, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, shook off the stress of dealing with her appeal and dominated her first three opponents on her way to the round of eight.

Although Grier, ranked No. 9 nationally, defeated then-No. 3 Peterson 6-4, 6-1 on February 6, the Southern California senior proved to be too much this time.

NU coach Claire Pollard said she saw vast improvement in No. 8 seed Peterson’s play during the tournament, and worried that she could challenge Grier.

“(Peterson) is the only kid in the tournament that could dictate the outcome of the match to Cristelle,” Pollard said. “They are both in the top four or five players in the country, and when it comes to that it just depends on who is better that particular day.”

Pollard said Peterson could “smoke the ‘something’ out of the ball,” and was able to wear Grier down with her aggressive, first-strike style.

“She is a phenomenal ball-striker,” Pollard said. “There’s not a kid in college tennis that hits the ball better than Jewel Peterson.”

Grier said Peterson played a much cleaner match this time, making fewer errors and moving better on the court than in the first meeting.

Pollard said fatigue from the long tennis season and the extreme pressure to win were factors in Grier’s loss.

“She wanted to win so badly that she put too much pressure on herself,” Pollard said. “She’s run down from the season and that took its toll today.”

Despite the disappointing loss, Pollard said she was extremely proud of Grier’s effort in her first season of college tennis.

When Grier got off the court she didn’t want to talk about the match, but Pollard said she reminded the freshman of the amazing year she had.

“I told her I wouldn’t trade her for Jewel Peterson anytime,” Pollard said. “There are very few players that can come in and dominate college tennis and go 28-1 in their first year.

“Peterson has taken four years to get where she is.”

After getting over her initial disappointment, Grier said she was able to be proud of her accomplishments in a season of unprecedented success.

“After I had eaten and showered and generally gotten all of the frustration out, I was able to take note of what I had done and just be happy with that,” Grier said. “I gave everything I had and it just wasn’t enough today.”