BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Northwestern’s women’s tennis team captured its fourth straight Big Ten title Sunday afternoon with a 4-1 win over Wisconsin at the Indiana University Tennis Center in Bloomington, Ind. The second-seeded Badgers (16-8, 10-4 Big Ten) were playing in the championship match for the first time since winning the conference in 1996.
“It’s absolutely a thrill every time we win the Big Ten championship,” said Wildcats head coach Claire Pollard. “It is always a goal of the season, and we know that it is anyone’s tournament when you arrive.”
After a grueling match with the Badgers three weeks ago that resulted in a 4-3 NU win, the ‘Cats were prepared for a battle today.
Northwestern opened the match by winning at No. 2 and No. 3 for the first point. Marine Piriou and Jessica Rush defeated Katie McGaffigan and Lindsay Martin, 8-5, at No. 2. After a loss in yesterday’s semifinals, Ruth Barnes and Andrea Yung rebounded at No. 3 to defeat Vanessa Rauh and Katie Dougherty 8-4.
With momentum on their sides, the ‘Cats won three singles matches in straight sets to seal the victory and bring home the hardware. Junior Piriou stepped up at No. 1 singles and defeated Vanessa Rauh, 6-3, 6-3. Rush was also a winner, downing Shana McElroy 6-4, 6-1 at No. 3. Simona Petrutiu was the 6-1, 6-1 winner at No. 4, defeating Katie McGaffigan en route to the 4-1 win.
“For the last few years, we have proven that we are the best team in the Big Ten,” said Pollard. “We won’t let one moment or the record books define us. We are a team that prides itself on always showing up and never being an easy out.”
Wisconsin’s only win came at No. 6 where Martin defeated Barnes, 6-3, 6-3.
The Badgers advanced to the championship match, with a 4-3 win over Michigan in semifinal action Saturday, rallying from 3-1 down after losing the doubles point and No. 2 and No. 5 singles.
Friday, they beat Indiana 4-2 with singles wins by Linde Mues, Shana McElroy, McGaffigan and Katie Dougherty at the two, three, four and five positions, respectively.
Men bounced Saturday
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Badgers came close to advancing to the 2002 Big Ten semifinals, but were narrowly defeated by the No. 2 seeded Buckeyes, 4-3, at the Stickney Tennis Center in Columbus, Ohio. The No. 10 Badgers started the match by winning the doubles point. Scott Green and Scott Rutherford defeated OSU’s Adrain Bohane and Paul Warkentin, 8-0, at the No. 1 position. Alex Kasarov and David Hippee sealed the doubles point for the Badgers as they defeated OSU’s Brenton Contini and Phil Metz, 8-6, at the No. 3 position.
The Buckeyes rebounded with four singles wins at Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6. Junior Phil Metz earned the match-winning point at No. 2 singles for Ohio State. He defeated Wisconsin’s Scott Rutherford 7-5, 6-1 to end the match. Adrian Bohane defeated Alex Kasarov of Wisconsin at No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-2. Vince Ng defeated The Badgers’ Scott Green at No. 5 6-0, 6-1 and Paul Warkentin won at No. 6 singles over UW’s Jason Gonzaga 7-5, 6-0.
— compiled from staff reports
Three-time all-Big Ten honoree Danny Westerman beat Jeremy Wurtzman at one singles and David Hippee won 6-4, 6-1 in his match at No. 4 singles. Wisconsin ends its 2002 season with a 9-13 overall mark and a 3-9 record in Big Ten play.
