Women’s Tennis

Northwestern narrowly defeated two Michigan-based conference rivals to stay undefeated in the Big Ten.

The No. 13 Wildcats (15-4, 8-0 Big Ten) started the weekend in East Lansing against Michigan State (13-7, 4-4). They then traveled southeast to Ann Arbor to meet Michigan (11-9, 7-1) the next day. Both matches resulted in 4-3 victories for the Cats, extending their unbeaten run in conference play.

The unranked Spartans put up a fight against the Cats, winning at Nos. 2, 5 and 6 singles. However, NU, led by its seniors, edged out the victory on the day. Seniors Erin Larner and Maddie Lipp both won their matches in straight sets. Sophomore Julie Byrne also won her singles match, clinching the win for the Cats, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

“All credit to them, they came out really aggressive and hungry,” coach Claire Pollard said. “I was pleased that we survived and got a ‘W.’”

The fourth point against the Spartans came from the doubles point, where Byrne and junior Rheeya Doshi won their matchup along with the senior partnership of Lipp and Larner.

The two seniors began the contest against Michigan in similar fashion, dropping only one game. Senior Alex Chatt and junior Lee Or finished soon after with a 6-3 win to clinch the doubles point for the second consecutive day.

The singles portion was back-and-forth from the start. Or was the first off the court in a losing effort, but freshman Inci Ogut put the team back on top with a convincing win. Soon after, Larner won her match and continued an astounding streak.

Larner has not lost a singles match in nearly two months. Her impressive win on Sunday will ensure that her streak will continue at least one more week. She defeated Michigan’s Kate Fahey, who is 29th in the singles rankings. This marks her third win over a top-50 opponent this season.

“Last year, I was competing with the top girls but I just fell a little bit short,” Larner said. “This year, I have just been trusting my shots and leaving it all on the line in every single match.”

Nonetheless, Larner’s win left NU up 3-1. After Byrne and Lipp both faltered in straight sets, the match was in Chatt’s hands.

She got up 5-1 in the first set of her match but lost the next six games to cede the first set to her opponent.

“Losing that first set was obviously a heartbreaker, but I couldn’t let anyone get in my head at that time,” Chatt said. “It was such a mental game today.”

She stormed back and won the second set, but trailing 5-4 and 40-15 in the third set, she faced three match points. With the odds in Michigan’s favor, Chatt saved all three match points and took the deciding set to a tiebreaker.

In a back-and-forth tiebreaker, Chatt watched her big-hitting opponent crumble. She won the tiebreaker 7-4, and with it, defeated the Cats’ biggest rival in a thrilling matchup.

Pollard said the team saw this win as a crucial moment in its season with just four matches left until the postseason.

“It’s humongous; it’s the shot in the arm that we needed,” Pollard said. “It’s really hard to stay focused for five months and this gets us ready to finish the regular season really strong.”

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Twitter: @CalvAlexander