Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Set to Host Fifth-Consecutive NCAA Regional Championship
5/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
NCAA Regional Championship Notes in PDF Format
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May 11, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - For the fifth-straight year, Northwestern will begin its NCAA Tournament run in the comforts of home by hosting the Regional Championship. This weekend, Iowa, Notre Dame and Valparaiso head to Evanston, where first-round action begins at 10 a.m. Friday, May 13 and the championship match will play out at 12 p.m. Saturday, May 14. The four squads are fighting to advance to the tournament's round of 16, held in Athens, Ga.
All competition will be held outside at Vandy Christie Tennis center, weather permitting.
NCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, May 13
First Round -- Notre Dame vs. Iowa @ 10 a.m.
First Round -- No. 5 Northwestern vs. Valparaiso @ 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 14
Championship Match @ Noon
• Check out Northwestern's NCAA Regional Championship page for more information on this weekend's tournament and live updates of the matches.
Since head coach Claire Pollard came to Evanston in 1999, the Wildcats are 9-2 in NCAA Regional competition and 6-1 at home the past five years. Their last loss in regional play came in the first round against Kansas State in 2003.
The `Cats will be featured in the second part of a first-round double dip on Friday. Following Notre Dame and Iowa at 10 a.m., Northwestern gets underway at 2 p.m. against a strong Valparaiso team.
The Crusaders posted a 15-4 overall record and perfect 8-0 mark in Mid-Continent Conference play. Nevertheless, Valparaiso finds itself in unfamiliar territory. This marks Valpo's first-ever NCAA tournament bid, earning the honor after winning their first-ever conference tournament title on March 23.
Even though they lack tournament seasoning, make no mistake, the Crusaders are contenders.
Valparaiso has won 12 straight, swept its competition, 7-0, six times this year and its top-three singles players -- Rachel Janssen, Monika Danko and Jill Dierberg -- all earned first-team conference honors.
Valpo's reward for crafting arguably the best season in school history?... The sixth-ranked Wildcats (24-2, 13-0), who are winners of their last 13, coming off a seventh-straight Big Ten Tournament title and also hold the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Janssen, Danko and Dierberg will most likely face NU's three-headed monster of Audra Cohen (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas), Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) at the top-three singles positions. NU's trio has combined for a bulky 114 total wins this year. In addition, all three were unanimous All-Big Ten selections.
The bottom half of NU's lineup has been solid this spring as well. Valerie Vladea (Tiffin, Iowa/Burlington Central) is the fourth Wildcat to have at least 30 victories. She has a 33-8 overall mark and has wrapped up all 22 of her dual victories in straight sets.
Andrea Yung (San Marino, Calif./San Marino) has been nearly perfect holding down the No. 5 spot for the `Cats. The senior is 8-1 at that position and 21-5 overall.
At No. 6, Alexis Conill (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) will most likely get the nod from Pollard. The freshman's gritty, grinding style of play has yielded a 17-10 overall record.
Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day), who has been out of the lineup for a month due to illness, has been practicing lately and could see time at the No. 6 position.
If the 'Cats advance past the Crusaders, they will run up against either Iowa or Notre Dame in the championship match Saturday for the right to move on to Athens. Northwestern beat the Hawkeyes, 7-0, and the Irish, 5-2, earlier this season.
