Northwestern Captures the Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 2, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. - In the championship round of the Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship, hosted by Michigan State University, No. 1 seed Northwestern was victorious over No. 2 seed Wisconsin, 4-1.
The win marked the first Big Ten Championship for Northwestern since 1986. Last season NU finished fifth and Wisconsin finished third in the tournament.
Northwestern got off to a slow start after dropping the doubles point. However, in the end the 23rd ranked Wildcats (18-4 overall) were too much for the 61st ranked Badgers (12-12 overall). At No. 3 singles, Northwestern's Shannon Duffy defeated Wisconsin's April Gabler, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, for the deciding point of the match.
Northwestern Head Coach Claire Pollard said, "First of all, I want to congratulate Wisconsin on a great match. They fought really hard and brought out the best in us. I'm so excited for this program and these eight young girls. As a new coach, I came in and demanded a lot form them and they have responded."
NO. 1 NORTHWESTERN vs. No. 2 WISCONSINSINGLES No. 1 Barb Urbanska (UW) vs. Katherine Nasser (NU) 6-4, 4-6, 2-2 (abandoned) No. 2 Laura Guignon (NU) def. Andrea Nathan 6-3, 6-0 No. 3 Shannon Duffy (NU) def. April Gabler 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 No. 4 Collen Cheng (NU) def. Dena Baritot 6-4, 6-3 No. 5 Lia Jackson (NU) def. Debbie Reynolds 6-0, 7-6 (3) No. 6 Roz Sweeney (UW) vs. Jennifer Lutgert (NU) W 7-5, 2-3 (abandoned)
DOUBLES No. 1 Gabler/Urbanska (UW) def. Nasser/Guignon 8-6 No. 2 Cheng/Jackson (NU) vs. Baritot/Nathan (W) 8-7 (abandoned) No. 3 Dougherty/Reynolds (UW) def. Duffy/Weinraub 8-5
FINAL SCORE: Northwestern 4, Wisconsin 1