Northwestern University Athletics
Sizzling 'Cats Prepared for NCAA Championships
5/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 17, 2004
NCAA Championships Game Notes for Northwestern
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EVANSTON, Ill.--Northwestern's ninth-ranked women's tennis team catapulted itself to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships for the 10th time by winning its own NCAA Regional Championship last weekend. The 10th-seeded Wildcats (25-4) will face seventh-seeded Duke (21-4) at 2 p.m. (CT) Thursday at McWhorter Courts on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens.
With victories over Illinois-Chicago and Notre Dame, NU completed an undefeated home schedule (17-0). The 'Cats will try to extend their 12-match winning streak when they face the fourth-ranked Blue Devils for the second time this season and try to avenge a 5-2 loss.
"It feels great to return to the Round of 16," said head coach Claire Pollard. "The competition will be tough as usual, but I know we will be ready to go this week."
In the same quarter-bracket as Northwestern are 15th-seeded Kentucky and No. 2 seed Stanford, which also will play each other at 2 p.m.
To face either opponent, NU will have to take care of business with Duke, which beat Furman and William & Mary en route to its Round of 16 appearance. The Blue Devils, who were an at-large bid after losing in the ACC Championship, are led by senior Amanda Johnson and freshman Jennifer Zika, ranked Nos. 8 and 112, respectively.
When the two teams competed in February, the 'Cats took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 but only won one singles match--Alexis Prousis' (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) 6-1, 6-1 decision over Julia Smith at No. 4--and consequently were tagged with their third loss of the season.
Northwestern will once again be loaded for a battle. Third-ranked Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) comes in with a 19-match winning streak and a 37-3 overall record. Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day), whose hometown is about four hours away from Athens by car, is sporting a 16-match winning streak and a 26-11 record.
Meanwhile, two other Wildcats have crossed the 30-win mark. Prousis improved to 31-9 after this weekend's pair of triumphs, and No. 44 Jessica Rush (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School) is 33-9 with 10 victories in her last 11 matches.
"Duke beat us convincingly last time, but we will make it very difficult for them on Thursday," said Pollard. "We have had more experience playing outdoors now, and I think coming in as the lower seed will actually help us."
The victor will move on to the quarterfinal round, which will take place at 2 p.m. (CT) on Friday. The semifinal round on Northwestern's half of the bracket is slated for a 2 p.m. start on Saturday, while the championship match will begin at noon on Sunday.
Live results will be available at http://georgiadogs.collegesports.com/tennis_womens/2004/ncaa_championships/team_index.shtml.
