No. 7 Northwestern Drops Thriller at No. 10 Nebraska, 4-3
Monday, 03/11/2013
LINCOLN, Neb. -- No. 7 Northwestern and No. 10 Nebraska battled down to the wire, but the host Cornhuskers got a tight third-set win in the decisive match at No. 4 singles to pull off a 4-3 win Sunday afternoon at Nebraska Tennis Center.
Nebraska jumped out in front by winning the doubles point despite a dominant effort by the Wildcats at No. 3. The pairing of Belinda Niu and Kate Turvy easily disposed of Izabella Zgierska and Maggy Lehmicke, winning 8-0. However, NU was unable to pull out close matches at Nos. 1 and 2 as the hosts jumped out to the early lead.
The Cornhuskers had the early advantage in singles action as the hosts claimed the first set in four of the six matches. Nebraska's advantage drew to 2-0 when Turvy, ranked 55th, fell to 16th-ranked Mary Weatherholt in straight sets.
One of the Wildcats who dropped her first set was Veronica Corning at No. 3 as she lost the opening set 6-3 before rallying back to dismantle Stefanie Weinstein in the next two, 6-1, 6-0, to get Northwestern on the board.
The Huskers pulled within one victory of the match when Janine Weinreich topped Alicia Barnett at No. 5 by a 6-1, 7-6 score. However, the 'Cats mounted a comeback.
Linda Abu Mushrefova took a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 win at No. 6 over Zgierska, leaving the match up to a pair of tight matches at Nos. 2 and 4. Belinda Niu, ranked 96th, was able to finish off Patricia Veresova 7-5, 7-6 at No. 2, evening the match 3-3.
That left things up to a nail-biter at No. 4 between Brittany Wowchuk and Lehmicke. Wowchuk dropped the opening set, 6-3, before rallying back to take the second, 6-4. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Lehmicke emerged victorious in the decisive set, 6-4, giving the hosts the win.
Northwestern takes a break for final exams before returning to action Sunday, March 24 when it hosts North Carolina at 11 a.m.