Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Out to Tame Fresno State, Michigan This Weekend
3/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 25, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Following its first break from competition in eight weeks, Northwestern (13-1) is ready to begin the backstretch of its regular-season schedule starting with a trip to San Diego, Calif., to face No. 15 Fresno State at 10 a.m. Friday. From there the top-ranked 'Cats pay a visit to 16th-ranked Michigan at 1 p.m. Sunday where they'll try to extend their 68-match Big Ten winning streak.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Fresno State pulled off a significant upset on Saturday when it knocked off No. 5 California, 4-3, on the Bears' home courts. Just two weeks ago, the Bulldogs were sitting 39th in the ITA national team rankings, but a six-match winning streak capped by the upset of Cal has vaulted Fresno State back into the nation's top 16. Senior Melanie Gloria, the three-time defending Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, has won back-to-back WAC Player of the Week awards and is ranked No. 19 in singles play with a 22-11 record.
Fresno State boasts a strong doubles lineup but lost two of three doubles matches against Cal before rallying to win the match in singles. FSU features the nation's top-ranked duo of Renata Kucerkova and Anastasia Petukhova--who fell 8-5 in their No. 1 doubles match against the Golden Bears--as well as the ninth-ranked tandem of Gloria and Tinesta Rowe.
Northwestern has won three of five all-time matches with Fresno State, including a 4-1 victory in their last meeting during the NCAA Championships in Tulsa last season.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
Just behind Fresno State in this week's rankings are the 16th-ranked Michigan Wolverines, who are 8-4 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten coming off a 6-1 win against Iowa. Michigan's lineup also includes a reigning conference player of the week in sophomore Rika Tatsuno. The Wolverines' No. 1 singles player holds a team-best 17-7 singles record and has won 13 of her last 17 matches. Like Tatsuno, Whitney Taney is also 8-4 in dual matches while splitting time between the third and fourth singles positions.
The Wildcats have fared well historically against Michigan, winning 43 of 51 all-time meetings. Last year, NU defeated U of M 5-2 in the regular season and 4-0 in the Big Ten Championships.
LEADING THE WAY
With nine matches remaining in NU's regular season, here is a glance at some of Northwestern's statistical leaders through the 2008-09 campaign:
Most singles wins: 25 (Lauren Lui, Maria Mosolova, Samantha Murray)
Highest singles winning percentage: .941 (Stacey Lee - 16-1)
Most doubles wins: 26 (Keri Robison)
Highest doubles winning percentage: .833 (Elena Chernyakova)
Longest singles winning streak: 11 (Stacey Lee)
Fewest singles sets lost in dual matches (among players to play in all 14 duals): 4 (Nazlie Ghazal)
