Northwestern University Athletics
Gophers, Hawkeyes Next in Line for NU
4/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 7, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill.--Northwestern's ninth-ranked women's tennis team (13-4, 3-1) has a chance to climb to the top of the standings in the Big Ten Conference with wins this weekend at Combe Tennis Center over Minnesota, which is scheduled at noon April 10, and No. 32 Iowa, which is slated for 11 a.m. April 11.
After last weekend's split, NU is tied with Indiana for fourth place, following Michigan, Illinois and Iowa, which all are tied for first with a 4-1 conference mark.
Three Wildcats--third-ranked Cristelle Grier (Surrey, England/Epsom), Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) and Andrea Yung (San Marino, Calif./San Marino)--all were 2-0 in singles last week. Grier's win against Illinois was her 11th over a ranked-opponent this season; she will face another on Sunday.
The Gophers (2-14, 0-5) have struggled a bit from last year in which they had a 9-1 conference record and the top seed heading into the Big Ten Championship (NU beat UM 4-1 for its fifth-straight title). Angela Buergis leads the team with a 12-4 record; she was the only person on her team to win against Michigan last week.
"Minnesota is a little down right now, but they still an important match to us," said head coach Claire Pollard. "If we want to run the table, we have no margin for error."
The Hawkeyes (11-4, 4-1) also have changed significantly, sitting at the top of the conference so far this year, moving up from the middle where they were in 2003. No. 94 Meg Racette helms her squad in both singles and doubles. She helped earn her team wins over Michigan and Michigan State last week by going undefeated.
"It is still very early in the season," said Pollard on the current Big Ten standings. "Iowa is a much improved team from last year. We look forward to facing them."
The Hawkeyes have a dual match against Wisconsin prior to taking on NU.
