Fresno State Athletics
'Dogs Square Off Against No. 1 Northwestern
5/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 13, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 16 Fresno State women's tennis team matched a program best Sweet 16-berth and will be looking to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history, when it faces top-ranked Northwestern on Friday at 1 p.m. PT in College Station, Texas.
The Bulldogs and Wildcats are becoming well-acquainted with each other, as this will be the fourth meeting between the two squads in the last two seasons. Northwestern won those three previous matches, but the Bulldogs narrowed the gap in the last meeting on March 27, 20009, with the Wildcats coming away with a narrow 4-3 victory on a neutral court in San Diego, Calif.
Since that encounter the Bulldogs have won 15-straight matches.
The Bulldogs feature three players ranked in the Top 70, in No. 18 Melanie Gloria, No. 28 Anastasia Petukhova and No. 67 Renata Kucerkova.
Consistent doubles play has set the tone for Fresno State all season with two duos ranked in the Top 15, namely No. 1 Petukhova and Kucerkova and No. 15 Gloria and Rowe.
On the opposite side of the court, five Wildcats are ranked in the Top 125 - including the No. 1 player in the country Maria Mosolova, No. 20 Georgia Rose, No. 47 Samantha Murray, No. 117 Nazlie Ghazal and No. 119 Lauren Lui.
Similar to Fresno State, Northwestern has two ranked doubles teams. Wildcats Rose and Lui are ranked 24th and Keri Robison and Mosolova are No. 29.
In the last meeting, both squads battled for the doubles point with the Northwestern clinching the point when Robison and Moslova narrowly defeated Gloria and Rowe in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-4).
The Bulldogs and Wildcats also met last year in the Sweet 16, as Northwestern came away with a 4-1 victory to advance to the Elite Eight.
Northwestern holds a 4-2 all-time advantage in the series that dates back to 1996.
Follow the 'Dogs with live scoring and video at http://www.aggieathletics.com/ncaa2009/tennis/stats.html.
On Sunday at 2 p.m. PT, the winner of the Fresno State and Northwestern match will face the winner of the Georgia Tech and California match. The Bulldogs faced both the Golden Bears and Yellow Jackets this year, with Fresno picking up a 4-3 victory over California and dropping a 4-3 match to Georgia Tech.
"Join the State - Fresno State" - The Bulldogs travel to College Station, Texas, for a Sweet 16 showdown with the No. 1 team in the country, Northwestern. Follow the 'Dogs throughout the season on www.gobulldogs.com.
