Corrections appended, April 22 at 10:30 p.m.
The Northwestern women’s tennis team clinched its fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship on Saturday with a win over Michigan State. The light mist coming down over Evanston didn’t affect the ‘Cats one bit as they shut out the Spartans 7-0, finishing the regular season with a 10-0 conference record.
Most dominant player: Communication sophomore Suzie Matzenauer didn’t drop a single game. She and partner Samantha Murray, a Weinberg sophomore, blazed over Spartans Christine Bader and Stephanie Kebler, securing the 8-0 win in half an hour in their doubles match. Matzenauer completely controlled the net, hitting tricky volleys while Bader and Kebler were in transition. Playing at No. 6 singles, Matzenauer took down Kathryn Bonnen 6-0, 6-0, making her undefeated in conference singles play this season.
Best match: Samantha Murray had the longest match of the day, struggling in her first set against MSU’s Ana Milosavljevic. Murray’s powerful forehand kept Milosavljevic pinned against the baseline, but she was less successful at the net. Murray went up 4-0 in the first set but grew visibly frustrated, flipping her racket between points, as her lead was cut to 4-3. She finally stopped Milosavljevic’s momentum with a particularly strong sequence of serves, closing out the first set 6-4 and controlling the second 6-0.
Signature move: Weinberg freshman Maria Mosolova took on Christine Bader at No. 1 singles, breezing through the match 6-0, 6-2 without even removing her warm-up shirt. Bader tried to stop Mosolova’s attack by frequently moving forward to the net, but the Russian’s ball placement was superb. Every volley from Bader was met with a high, light forehand that sailed just over the Spartan’s reach. Mosolova’s finesse game has given her the best singles record on the team.
On fire: SESP sophomore Lauren Lui is on a 17-match winning streak from her No. 4 singles slot. She finished her 6-1, 6-1 match against Spartan Ally Wickman, then wandered between courts to shout encouragement to her teammates.
Big names, small numbers: The Wildcats have been unstoppable as a team, and their individual accomplishments are just as impressive. According to the ITA Tennis rankings as of April 22, Northwestern has four players in the top 50 nationwide. Maria Mosolova is the No. 4 women’s college tennis player in the country, followed by teammates Georgia Rose, a SESP junior, at No. 8, Samantha Murray at No. 33 and Lauren Lui at No. 50. The doubles team of Murray and Lui are No. 14, and Lui appears again at No. 18 partnered with Rose.
Hallmark moment: The ‘Cats honored their lone senior Alexis Conill between the doubles and singles matches, presenting her with gag gifts and coercing a speech from the injured player. Conill, a Weinberg senior, finishes her career at Northwestern with a 40-0 Big Ten match record this year. Last week against Minnesota, Conill broke her foot, prematurely ending the season for the doubles specialist. Coach Claire Pollard spoke of her years working with and butting heads with Conill, commenting on the selfless response to her injury: always a team player, Conill said only, “Thank God it’s me.”
Top team in the nation: The Northwestern Wildcats head into the Big Ten Championship tournament, which starts April 25, ranked No. 1 overall. The team hopes to set a new record of 10 straight tournament wins.
Corrections — April 22, 2008: The original article incorrectly stated Alexis Conill’s duals record and Big Ten match record; Maria Mosolova’s year; the order that the matches finished; and Northwestern’s first match in the Big Ten Championship tournament. Thanks to anon for pointing out these mistakes. North by Northwestern regrets the errors.