Northwestern University Athletics
Audra Cohen Named Big Ten Athlete of the Week
4/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 20, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Freshman Audra Cohen (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) has earned her first-career Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors following a weekend performance that saw her break Northwestern's single-season wins record and post a 3-0 mark in doubles.
Saturday, Cohen tied the school's benchmark of 40 singles wins-- set by Cristelle Grier in 2004 -- with a straight-set win over Purdue's No. 99 Hala Sufi, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Cohen then hit magical win number 41 by beating Illinois' Cynthia Goulet, who oddly enough was ranked No. 41. The freshman phenom is now 41-5 overall, 18-4 in duals and 9-0 in the Big Ten.
Cohen also dominated the field in doubles competition, teaming with Grier to record three wins last week. Thursday against Notre Dame, Cohen and Grier -- the nation's top-ranked tandem -- handily beat Notre Dame's Catrina and Christian Thompson, 8-4. The Thompson twins were ranked fifth in the nation at the time. Then over the weekend, Cohen and Grier notched a pair of 8-1 victories against Big Ten competition to extend their winning streak to 16. The duo is now 31-2 overall, 19-2 in duals and 9-0 in the Big Ten.
This marks the fourth time a Wildcat has earned the conference honor this year. Alexis Prousis nabbed her first-career honor back on February 17 and later won the award again March 31. Grier earned her fourth-career conference honor last week (4/13).
