Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Host Unbeaten Texas
2/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 23, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern (9-1, 1-0 Big Ten) hosts its third top-15 opponent in as many matches at noon Sunday, Feb. 27 when 13th-ranked Texas comes to Combe Tennis Center.
The fourth-ranked Wildcats are 4-3 all-time against the Longhorns and NU won the most recent matchup in 2003 with a 4-3 win in Austin, Texas.
With an unblemished 6-0 mark, Texas has been on a merciless tear as of late, having swept its last four opponents, 7-0. Their premier players are Kendra Strohm and Courtney Zauft, who are ranked 80th and 97th, respectively. Texas is strong at the bottom of its lineup also, as its No. 5 and 6 singles players have yet to drop a match.
For the `Cats, Valerie Vladea (Tiffin, Iowa/Burlington Central) has been on fire lately, winning five of her last six singles matches and four of her last six doubles alongside junior Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day).
The Wildcats' big gun -- top-ranked Audra Cohen (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) -- has won her last six matches after losing for only the second time this year on Feb. 3 to Georgia's Shadisha Robinson.
Senior Kristi Roemer (Piedmont, ) and Alexis Prousis recently jumped to No. 18 into the national rankings as a doubles duo. The tandem won six out of their first seven matches as a duo and upset then-10th-ranked Megan Muth and Amy Wei in NU's 5-2 win over William & Mary.
Sunday's match will be the Wildcats' third-consecutive home match and the last for almost a month. NU hits the road for the first half of March with matches at 17th-ranked Harvard and 18th-ranked California. The `Cats then return home to re-open Big Ten play against Michigan and Michigan State Saturday through Sunday, Mar. 26-27.
Nationally Ranked `Cats as of Feb. 22, 2005
Singles
No. 1 - Audra Cohen
No. 13 - Cristelle Grier
No. 59 - Alexis Prousis
Doubles
No. 2 - Cohen and Grier
No. 18 - Kristi Roemer and Prousis
Team Ranking
Northwestern's No. 4 ranking is the highest in school history
Chasing History
Cohen recently recorded her 32nd victory of the season, putting her only eight shy of tying Grier's single-season school record of 40 set in 2004. Cohen has only dropped four sets in 34 total matches.
