For No. 5 Northwestern, it was too little, too late.
After dropping the doubles point and its first two singles matches to No. 11 Miami (20-5) in the NCAA round of 16, NU (23-7) stormed back to take control of three of the four remaining matches. But the comeback was short lived, as the Hurricanes closed out the No. 2 singles match, ending the Wildcats’ run at the NCAA crown.
“We were never totally out of the match,” sophomore Stacey Lee said. “We definitely had a chance going into the singles points and we knew it. Every match was so close-it’s hard to look back and say what would have changed the results.”
NU entered the match on a tear after winning its 12th consecutive Big Ten title and posting convincing sweeps of its regional round competition. Despite a rocky season in which the Cats dropped their first conference matchup since 2004 and posted six regular season losses, coach Claire Pollard said the team was turning a corner in the playoffs. With its freshmen looking more seasoned on the court, NU aimed to capitalize on its momentum and snag the elusive NCAA championship to add to a growing collection of hardware. But Miami proved tougher than anyone anticipated.
“We knew that at this level all the teams were going to be good,” Pollard said. “I’m not quite sure that we were expecting to battle out every single point the way we had to today. We didn’t make the most of those opportunities and Miami did. That’s what it comes down to.”
After taking wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles spots, the Hurricanes made quick work of the Cats’ No. 3 and No. 1 singles players. No. 13 Maria Mosolova matched up against Miami’s No. 7 Laura Vallverdu for the first time all year at the No. 1 spot. Vallverdu backed up her ranking by snagging the lead immediately and closing out the match 6-2, 6-3, before Mosolova could rebound.
Meanwhile, senior Lauren Lui dropped just her fifth dual loss of the season to the Hurricanes’ No. 84 Anna Bartenstein in three sets.
“It was hard to see some of the older girls drop their matches because they were really trying their best,” Pollard said. “But Miami was prepared for them, they knew how to play us.”
However, the Hurricanes were taken by surprise by the bottom half of NU’s lineup. It was the first NCAA appearance for Lee and freshmen Kate Turvy and Linda Mushrefova. All three pulled out singles wins and NU took the No. 4 through No. 6 matches in what Pollard called an “encouraging performance.”
Turvy’s performance was pivotal for NU. The freshman recorded the Cats’ only doubles win of the morning with partner senior Samantha Murray before going on to win her ninth straight singles match.
“It’s hard to be happy with my own performance because we’re all pretty disappointed overall right now,” Turvy said. “It doesn’t matter that I won if we couldn’t win as a team. But I guess it’s a good sign for next year that me and Stacey and Linda all stepped up.”
NU will send Mosolova and Lui to the singles round of the NCAA individual tournament and Lui and sophomore Elena Chernyakova to the doubles portion of the championship.
“It’s a hard time of year when everyone goes their separate ways,” Pollard said. “Some girls still have something left to play for, obviously, but overall as a team, our season has been cut short.”
