By Jake SimpsonThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern’s dual season kicked off at 6:15 Wednesday against DePaul. By 6:50, the fans at Combe Tennis Center understood why the Wildcats are ninth in the country.
Behind a sweep of the doubles matches that gave the Cats an early boost, Northwestern cruised by the Blue Demons 6-1 with a team of underclassmen.
The Cats (1-0) were pleased with the convincing win.
“The big thing was to play a dual match at home and get some of the nerves out,” sophomore standout Georgia Rose said. “We did that and more today.”
NU answered it biggest preseason question with a superb performance in doubles. The Cats struggled to find quality teams in the fall, unable to find pairs that clicked.
On Wednesday, however, doubles came as easy as 1-2-3, as NU took the doubles point behind 8-1, 8-2 and 8-3 victories.
“I was really excited about our doubles,” coach Claire Pollard said. “It was a real plus to get that first point.”
The Cats earned the doubles point despite the absence of senior Alexis Prousis, half of last year’s NCAA championship tandem. Pollard replaced Prousis, who plays alongside Rose on the Cats’ No. 1 team, with junior Alexis Conill. Forced into a high-pressure situation, Conill rose to the challenge, teaming with Rose to defeat DePaul’s Dunja Antunovic and Beatrix Csordas 8-3.
“(Conill) filled really well for Prousis,” Rose said. “We played a couple matches together last year, so we had some experience together.”
The Cats’ other pairings, freshmen Lauren Lui and Samantha Murray and sophomores Nazlie Ghazal and Keri Robinson, also scored easy victories, and 35 minutes into the match the Cats had an early lead.
Fueled by their success in doubles, the team sizzled in singles, led once again by Rose. The sophomore sensation annihilated Csordas 6-0, 6-1, controlling the match with deep, accurate ground strokes and a powerful serve.
Ghazal did her fellow sophomore one better, shutting out her opponent 6-0, 6-0. Pollard was not surprised at Ghazal’s near-perfect match.
“(Nazlie’s) pretty ruthless,” she said. “She and Georgia went out there and set the tone for singles.”
The lone blemish for the Cats came when Murray fell to Dunja Antunovic 6-2, 6-4. The freshman appeared jittery in the first set, and while she rallied to play a competitive second set, she was unable to overcome the early deficit.
Early jitters also plagued Lui, who dropped the first set to her opponent and appeared headed for a discouraging defeat. In the final match of the day, however, Lui rallied, winning the second set to force a sudden-death “super tiebreaker” to 10 points. With her teammates cheering her on from the sidelines, Lui played her best tennis when it mattered, winning six straight points on her way to a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) victory.
“Lauren played a great match,” Rose said. “It was good to see her tough that one out.”
The Cats will need all that toughness on Sunday, when 10th-ranked Duke comes to Evanston. For now, though, the team can enjoy its success and put the first-game jitters behind them, realizing they all can compete at the collegiate level.
“I was nervous,” Lui said. “But it turned out to be fun.”
Reach Jake Simpson at [email protected]
