Northwestern University Athletics
No. 2 Northwestern Travels to Indiana and Penn State
3/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 30, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - As Big Ten play rolls along this weekend, No. 2 Northwestern ventures away from Evanston to face a pair of hot and cold conference opponents. Friday, April 1, the Wildcats travel to the No. 41 Indiana Hoosiers, who are 3-0 in conference play. Then on Sunday, NU will face a Penn State team that has yet to notch a conference win.
The Wildcats held firm as the nation's No. 2 squad in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), released March 29, despite a 4-2 loss to No. 24 California March 23.
Indiana (9-7, 3-0) has won three of its last four and recently sky-rocketed 15 notches in the poll after defeating both Purdue and Illinois last weekend by scores of 4-3. Similar to Northwestern, the Hoosiers are coming off a perfect, 6-0 doubles performance last weekend.
The Hoosiers boast one 20-match winner, Laura McGaffigan (20-8, 12-4), who will most likely face sophomore Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill/Lake Forest) at the No. 3 slot. Prousis has been nearly unstoppable as of late, winning her last six singles matches and her last four doubles matches alongside senior Kristi Roemer (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont). The duo is ranked 29th in the nation.
The Wildcats will take a travel day on Saturday, but return to action Sunday in University Park, Pa. at 9 a.m. CT. With a 13-0, all-time advantage, Northwestern will aim to remain undefeated against Penn State. The Nittany Lions (5-7, 0-3) most recently dropped a pair of conference matches this past weekend to Purdue, 7-0, and Illinois, 5-2.
This weekend will be the last conference road trip for the Wildcats until they conclude the regular season at Ohio State Saturday, April 23.
Nationally Ranked `Cats as of March 29, 2005
Singles
No. 3 Audra Cohen
No. 13 Cristelle Grier
No. 64 Alexis Prousis
Doubles
No. 1 Cohen and Grier
T-No. 29 Kristi Roemer and Prousis
Team Ranking
Northwestern's No. 2 ranking is the highest in school history
Perfect Matches... Doubles
Northwestern has swept the doubles point six times this season: vs. DePaul (1/19), at Texas A&M (1/29), at Kentucky (1/30) and at Wisconsin (2/13), vs. Michigan (3/26) and vs. Michigan State (3/27).
Perfect Matches... Singles
Northwestern has swept all six singles matches twice this season: vs. DePaul (1/19) and against New Mexico (2/4) at the ITA National Indoor Team Championship.
Chasing Recent History
Cohen recorded her 35th victory of the season Sunday, March 27, against Michigan State, putting her only five shy of tying Grier's single-season school record of 40 set in 2004. Cohen has only dropped eight sets in 39 total matches.
By the Numbers
12 • consecutive Big Ten matches Northwestern has won, a streak dating back to last year. The Wildcats last conference loss came April 4, 2004 at Illinois, 4-3.
4 • `Cats with at least 20 singles wins already this year. Cohen (35-4), Grier (26-6), Prousis (23-7) and Vladea (23-8).
6 • Big Ten Titles Claire Pollard has won in six years as head coach.
23 • Streak of wins by Audra Cohen in the fall to begin her college career, during which she claimed three singles titles.
