In a five day span, No. 4 Northwestern traveled across the country, played three matches, two of them back-to-back and one against a nationally ranked team and returned home with three 7-0 sweeps added to their already impressive record.
Not bad for a Spring break vacation.
“It was a really good week,” senior Cristelle Grier said. “Any time you beat three teams it’s a great achievement.”
In their first contest against Washington, the Cats (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten) took all three doubles matches and never looked back. Senior Jamie Peisel and freshman Nazlie Ghazal started it off with an 8-0 win at No. 3 followed by the fourth-ranked combo of Grier and junior Alexis Prousis’ 8-2 victory at No. 1.
Senior Feriel Esseghir and freshman Georgia Rose’s 8-6 win at No. 2 made it three straight for NU.
In singles play, Rose nabbed the first match of the day 6-1, 6-1. Esseghir came next with a win at No. 5 followed by Grier’s 6-3, 6-2 victory at the No. 1 spot.
Prousis won her 25th match at No. 2.
The team returned to the Midwest to take on Michigan State on Saturday in East Lansing, Mich.
Doubles against the Spartans was as easy as 1-2-3 as Grier and Prousis took No. 1 doubles 8-3, Rose and Esseghir won 8-2 at No. 2, and the Peisel-Ghazal tandem finished it up with an 8-3 victory at No. 3.
In singles, Rose won in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 2 spot.
“Georgia has done well since she’s come in,” Grier said. “She’s just a very steady player and very fit. Whomever she plays is going to have to be too, and that’s hard to come by.”
Grier defeated MSU’s Christine Bader at the No. 1 spot in three sets, winning 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7), and both Peisel and Prousis won in nearly identical matches; Peisel took hers 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-4) at No. 4 and Prousis won 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5) at No. 5.
After nabbing a second 7-0 victory in East Lansing, Mich., the Cats packed up and moved a few miles southeast to take on the No. 27 Wolverines the following day in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Esseghir and Rose started the Cats off with an 8-5 victory at No. 2, while Grier and Prousis dropped a close match 9-8 (3) at the No. 1 spot. Ghazal and Peisel’s 8-5 victory at No. 3, however, guaranteed the doubles point for NU.
In singles, Rose yet again had the Cats’ first win with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 for her 18th consecutive singles win.
Prousis won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3, followed by Ghazal’s 6-2, 7-5 victory at No. 6 and Esseghir’s 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 5.
Peisel’s three-set victory at No. 4 was followed by a hard fought win at No. 1 singles for Grier, 3-6, 7-5, 1-0(6).
“We’re just taking it one match at a time,” Grier said. “We’re not looking too far ahead. We have a tremendously busy schedule, so that’s always tough. We’re not going to overlook any team.”
Reach Diane Yamazaki at
