A historic season. A No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. A 23-match winning streak.
All of it came crashing down Saturday.
No. 1 Northwestern dropped four of five completed single matches in a 4-2 loss to No. 8 California in the NCAA quarterfinals in Tulsa, Okla. The upset loss ended the Wildcats’ season one step short of the first semifinal appearance in program history.
The Cats (29-2) took a 1-0 advantage by winning the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches to take the early point. But they were overwhelmed in singles by the Golden Bears (19-5).
California earned straight-set victories at No. 3, No. 5, and No. 6 singles, putting NU in a 3-1 hole. After junior Georgia Rose earned a 7-5, 6-4 victory to cut the lead to 3-2, all eyes turned to Maria Mosolova’s match at No. 1 singles and Lauren Lui’s and No. 4.
Down a set, Lui fought back to take the second set 7-5 and even her match. But at the same time, Mosolova let an early lead slip away, falling 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to California’s Susie Babos to seal the upset loss.
Read more about Northwestern’s upset loss in Monday’s DAILY.
