It won’t be so lonely at the top anymore for Big Ten powerhouse Northwestern. No. 8 Michigan beat No. 4 NU for the first time since 1997 on Saturday, snapping the Wildcats’ 81-game conference winning streak.
“(Michigan) played perfect tennis,” coach Claire Pollard said. “But I was actually very pleased with our play, we were back to a good spot. Michigan just was not making mistakes.”
It certainly seemed that way during doubles as the Wolverines swept all three matchups. Senior Samantha Murray and sophomore Elena Chernyakova came the closest to fending off Michigan (15-3, 5-0 Big Ten), forcing a tie-break before falling 9-8 at the No. 2 spot.
The Cats (14-4, 5-1 Big Ten) needed four singles wins on the afternoon to reverse their fortunes, and senior Lauren Lui and sophomore Stacey Lee delivered a pair of quick wins.
The match came down to the last two NU players on the court: Murray and freshman Kate Turvy. Murray came back from a first-set loss to force a third set against Michigan’s Whitney Tanney, which Murray rallied to win. But before Murray could finish her third set, Turvy dropped her second set 3-6 to give the Wolverines the win.
“It was really hard to play when you know that is doesn’t matter anymore,” Murray said of her singles match. “It is always good to win, but it doesn’t matter if your team has already lost.”
At No. 1 singles, 13th-ranked Maria Mosolova lost to 25th-ranked Denise Muresan. Mosolova made quick work of Muresan back in October with a 6-1, 6-2 win at the ITA Midwest Regional Semifinal, but Muresan’s aggressive play showed no sign of deference as she took the match 6-3, 6-0.
“Denise just played without a mistake,” Pollard said. “It was not so much a reflection on Maria’s play-I thought she played very well-as it was a reflection on just how hard Michigan came out.”
Lui was unfazed by Michigan as she improved her Big Ten singles record to 34-1. Lui pushed through a difficult first set to win 6-3. In the second set, Lui’s pace on the court proved too much for Michigan, and she broke open the match 6-0.
Lee’s win at the No. 6 spot came in resilient fashion. The sophomore battled back from a 5-1 deficit to take the first set 7-5. She won the last 12 games of the match to clinch the win and give the Cats their second singles victory.
“When I went down 5-1 I was definitely a little bit concerned, but I just told myself ‘I’m going to make her beat me,'” Lee said. “Basically I just got every single ball and did not make an unforced error.”
Lee continued her success Sunday when the Cats moved outdoors to take on unranked Michigan State (6-12, 0-5). This time, though, the rest of the team followed suit: NU won all but one match on the afternoon. The Cats were confronted with considerable wind but managed the conditions better than in their losses to Duke and North Carolina.
“I wasn’t so sure the girls were going to come out here excited after yesterday, ” Pollard said. “Especially during warm-ups they looked like they’d rather be anywhere else but here. But they played very well and got the wins they needed to get, even in conditions that don’t make for pretty tennis. That’s the kind of play we need.” [email protected]
