Northwestern University Athletics
No. 4 'Cats Welcome Pair of ACC Powerhouses This Weekend
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 17, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Fourth-ranked Northwestern welcomes a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouses to Combe Tennis Center this weekend, as ninth-ranked North Carolina and fifth-ranked Duke come to Evanston Saturday, Feb. 19 and Sunday, Feb. 20. Both matches will start at 11 a.m.
The Wildcats (7-1, 1-0 Big Ten) recently bumped up one spot in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) rankings to fourth, which is the highest in school history. The Blue Devils (5-1) also moved up one spot from sixth, while the Tar Heels (8-2) shot up four notches from 13th.
The 'Cats will face the Heels on Saturday. Since falling to Vanderbilt in its second consolation match at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, North Carolina has posted three-straight wins by a combined score of 20-1.
The Heels most recently blanked Virginia Tech 7-0 Wednesday afternoon for their third sweep of the season. The win was also Carolina's second-straight sweep having beaten Kentucky 7-0 on Saturday. Kentucky had beaten the Heels 5-2 at the ITA National Indoor Championship.
Evanston will be the first stop on a two-match road trip for the Heels, who will travel to Notre Dame on Sunday.
Conversely for Duke, the Blue Devils will face the `Cats one day after battling the Fighting Irish in South Bend.
Duke showed little rust in its first match in 11 days Wednesday against Old Dominion, as the Blue Devils swept the Lady Monarchs, 7-0.
Duke's only loss of the season came at the hands of then-14th-ranked Kentucky, 4-3, on Feb. 5. Northwestern defeated Kentucky -- now ranked third -- by a 4-1 count on Jan. 30, when inclement weather cut the match short.
With an overall record of 30-2 (7-1 dual), Wildcat freshman Audra Cohen (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) is already just 10 victories away from Northwestern's single-season record of 40. The benchmark of 40 was set in 2004 by junior Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney), who is having yet another brilliant year of her own with a 20-5 record (7-1 dual) so far.
Cohen and Grier are currently the nation's top-ranked doubles team, as well. Their stiffest competition as a duo could come against Cline and Mojzis of North Carolina -- ranked 14th. Duke's highest ranked tandem is Blaszak and Carleton, who are 42nd.
Sophomore Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and senior Kristi Roemer (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) boast a Northwestern-best 6-1 mark in doubles dual competition.
Following this weekend, Northwestern will next compete against Texas at Noon Sunday, Feb. 27 in Combe Tennis Center.
