June 5, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Four Big Ten women's tennis teams advanced to the 2009 NCAA Championships. Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State were selected to the field of 64. In addition, five Big Ten student-athletes were selected as singles and doubles participants in the tournament.
Big Ten Tournament champion Northwestern earned the overall No. 1 seed in this year's Championships and was the lone conference squad to advance to the second weekend of team competition. The Wildcats coasted into the quarterfinal round with sweeps over Miami (Ohio) and Fresno State. NU also topped No. 26 Kentucky, 4-1, en route to the quarterfinals where for the second straight season the 'Cats suffered a 4-2 loss to No. 8 California to end their run at the national title. The Wildcats finished the 2009 campaign with a 28-2 overall ledger, including an unblemished 10-0 Big Ten slate. NU's 11th-straight Big Ten Tournament crown marks the most consecutive conference titles won in Big Ten history.
Individually, Northwestern's top-seeded Maria Mosolova played into the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship bracket. Mosolova's bid for an NCAA title fell short as Georgia's eighth-seeded Chelsey Gullickson, the 2009 ITA National Rookie of the Year, bested the two-time Big Ten Athlete of the Year in the quarterfinal matchup, 6-1, 6-4. Mosolova ended her season with a 36-8 record, upping her career singles mark to 77-14 .
In doubles, NU's Georgia Rose and Lauren Lui advanced to the quarterfinals before dropping a narrow three-set loss to the eighth-ranked Stanford tandem of Hillary Barte and Lindsay Burdette. All three Big Ten student-athletes were tabbed ITA All-Americans by virtue of their quarterfinal berths.
No. 34-ranked Illinois advanced in the bracket with a nail biting 4-3 win over No. 19 Vanderbilt before falling to No. 16 Fresno State in second-round competition, 4-3. The Orange and Blue finished the season with a 19-8 overall record, garnering the most wins for any Illini squad since 1991.
Nationally, 10 Big Ten student-athletes finished the season ranked in the top 125 singles list and six duos ranked in the top 60 doubles.
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