As No. 5 Northwestern contends with its roughest season in 10 years, coach Claire Pollard is stressing the importance of learning from defeat. After dropping both of its matchups in Texas this weekend, one a close fight to No. 1 Baylor and the other a blowout against No. 27 Texas, the lesson is clear for NU: not all losses are created equal.
“We came out of the Baylor matchup feeling so good, like we had so much potential even though we lost,” said Pollard about the Wildcats’ 4-3 loss to the Bears. “But against Texas the girls just came out of it so down and their play was so different. It was tough to go from such a positive loss to such a difficult loss.”
NU’s top players posted a strong effort against Baylor on Friday. Junior Maria Mosolova and seniors Samantha Murray and Lauren Lui took wins at the top three singles spots. The wins were milestones for both Mosolova and Murray, with Mosolova taking down her first top-10 opponent of the season and Murray defeating the highest ranked player in her college career. Despite the final score, NU headed into the Texas matchup with confidence, Pollard said. But after losing all three doubles matchups, the Cats could not regain their swagger, and Lui was the only player to post a singles win on the afternoon.
“It was really unfortunate because we got a top-notch effort from the girls at the head of the line-up against Baylor,” Pollard said. “With Texas some of our younger girls really stepped up. So it was like both parts of the team coming through, just not at the same time.”
Mosolova, the nation’s 13th-ranked singles player, defeated All-American and No. 6 Lenka Broosova of Baylor in three sets, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. NU’s top singles player entered the contest with a three-match losing streak against top-10 opponents. But Mosolova couldn’t carry over her momentum, and she lost to Aeriel Ellis at Texas, 7-6, 7-6.
“I felt really confident coming into that match and it just felt so good to be playing someone new who was ranked and be beating them,” Mosolova said. “Against Texas my match was so close but I just got a little unlucky. Next time I need to make it so that luck is not so important.”
Murray’s weekend was just as mixed. After a three-set win over No. 16 Nina Secerbegovic, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, Murray fell to 60th-ranked Vanja Corovic of Texas, 6-4, 6-2.
Lui was the team’s most consistent performer of the weekend. The Texas native edged Baylor’s No. 59 Taylor Ormond 7-6 in the first set, and she finished Ormond off with a 6-2 second set. Lui posted NU’s sole win at Texas, taking down No. 46 Krista Damico, 6-4, 6-3.
“After this weekend we know we can compete against the best team in the nation, and we know if we keep working we can beat a team like Baylor down the road,” Lui said. “The hardest part is probably putting the loss at Texas behind us and focusing on the next matches as they come.”
The Cats continue with conference competition as they go up against No. 22 Iowa and No. 60 Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday. NU caps off its regular season the following weekend with a trip to Penn State and No. 30 Ohio State. [email protected]
