By Brian ReganThe Daily Northwestern
After a monthlong hiatus from competition, Northwestern split two matches Friday and Saturday on its Hawaii spring break trip.
The No. 10 Wildcats (9-4) beat Hawaii 7-0, but fell to No. 5 California, 6-1, at the tail end of their weeklong training and conditioning trip to Honolulu.
“They were two different-caliber teams, but it was good to get a win,” senior Alexis Prousis said. “In the Cal match we could have definitely played a lot better in all of our spots, but they were a really good team.”
Opening against the Rainbow Wahine (4-12), the Cats did not drop a set and lost only two games in doubles.
At No. 5 singles, freshman Suzie Matzenauer blanked her opponent as did the No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Georgia Rose and Prousis.
Rose had to earn her victory at No. 1 singles when Hawaii’s Sophie Kobuch gave her a challenge in the second set, but Rose prevailed 6-2, 6-4.
Against Cal, who came in riding a five-match winning streak, it was a different story.
Despite losing by their largest margin of the season and continuing their struggles against top-10 programs, the team was confident about what it took away from the loss and the trip.
“We’re learning from our mistakes, and at least we got to play outside for the whole week and got fitter,” Prousis said.
Despite the team’s struggles, the 15th-ranked Rose played solid tennis en route to her eighth-straight singles victory against No. 13 Zsuzsanna Fodor at No. 1 singles, winning 6-1, 6-3.
“I tend to have some problems when it gets hot, but I’d say I played pretty well,” Rose said.
The rest of the team was simply outmatched by the Golden Bears.
Aside from Rose’s win, the only other victory NU scored was in doubles, where freshman Lauren Lui and sophomore Keri Robison knocked off Nina Henkel and Stephanie Kusano, 8-5. Rose and Prousis, ranked 10th in the country, fell to the fourth-ranked Fodor and Suzie Babos, 8-5.
Cal won four of the singles matches in straight sets, but sophomore Nazlie Ghazal won her second set at No. 6 before losing 10-8 in the third set super-tiebreak.
“Cal was the best team we’ve played all year,” coach Claire Pollard said. “And it shows that we have work to do to be among the very elite.”
Reach Brian Regan at [email protected].
