Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Receives Three ITA Midwest Region Accolades
5/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 14, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After the best regular season in program history, Northwestern was recognized by the ITA with three regional award winners earning recognition for their achievements. Despite the honors, the Wildcats are on the eve of continuing their quest for a greater prize, the national championship.
Head coach Claire Pollard was named the Wilson/ITA Midwest Region Coach of the Year, while Maria Mosolova (Moscow, Russia/No. 204) took home the Rookie Player of the Year and Player to Watch awards.
All regional award winners are nominees for national awards that will be given on May 20 in Tulsa, Okla.
Pollard has been recognized as the Midwest Coach of the Year four times in her 10-year tenure. Her last honor came in 2005. Pollard capped the most successful regular season under her reign, finishing 23-1. She has since improved the 'Cats to 28-1 as they stand just four wins away from a potential national championship. Northwestern is currently on a program-best 22-match winning streak.
This season, Pollard led the Wildcats to their 10th-consecutive Big Ten title, fourth-consecutive undefeated conference regular season and fifth-straight berth to the NCAA Championships Round of 16. In April, she was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth-time in 10 seasons. A national championship is one of the few remaining goals to capping off this storybook season.
After being named Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Year, the performance of rookie standout Maria Mosolova is being further credited with her ITA accolades. In her first season as a Wildcat, Mosolova has stepped into the No. 1 singles role and dominated, going undefeated in Big Ten play and posting a team-best 37-4 overall record.
Mosolova, the nation's fifth-ranked singles player, is 18-2 from No. 1 dual singles and a perfect 4-0 from No. 2 this season. She qualified as an automatic bid for the NCAA singles championship as the No. 4 overall seed in the field of the nation's top 64 women's performers.
These awards come in the midst of No. 1-seeded Northwestern's run toward a national title. After sweeping UIC and Indiana 4-0 in the regional first and second rounds, the Wildcats are set to face No. 16-seeded Fresno State at noon Thursday, May 15 in Tulsa, Okla.
The singles and doubles championships will also be held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa, May 21-26. For additional NCAA tournament information, please visit Tulsa's official championships website.
For the complete list of regional award winners, visit the ITA Website.
