Northwestern University Athletics
SERVE AND VOLLEY: Entry Three
2/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 11, 2010
Throughout their careers, Northwestern seniors Lauren Lui and Samantha Murray have been two of the driving forces behind NU's rise to the level of perennial powerhouse. During their final go-rounds with the Wildcats, "Speeds" and Samantha will keep NU fans current on the program's latest happenings in their blog, "Serve and Volley."
Hey Wildcat Fans,
So we have just arrived in Madison, Wis., for National Indoors. It's our first road trip of the season, and everyone is very excited to finally get out of Evanston. Don't get me wrong, I love staying at home, but it's nice to get out and travel as a team. I no longer have to slave away in the kitchen to whip up my five-star meals, but now I get a break and can just eat. I love trips!
Anyways, last week was our first real test of playing a highly ranked team this year. The Seminoles arrived in Evanston with some great wins in their bag, but the 'Cats stepped it up and sent them packing. It was a great weekend for us. Everyone took care of business and found a way to win despite a valiant effort from FSU. This match was great preparation for us as we head into National Indoors which starts on Friday. The draws came out and our first-round match will be against the Lady Volunteers from Tennessee at 9 a.m.
In all my years at Northwestern, we've never played Tennessee so this is going to be fun. To all of our diehard fans, be sure to follow live scoring for our matches on Wisconsin's Web site. Last year, the Wisconsin site had a guy who updated a blog almost every minute with scores which I heard was very good so hopefully they will be doing that again. And just to let everyone know how National Indoors works, we only play on 3 courts for the first 2 rounds. This is because Wisconsin has 12 courts and 4 dual matches going on at the same time. Yea, I know...it can get pretty hectic at times with 8 teams cheering. So all the doubles go on first together. Then, there is a coin toss the day before to determine if singles lines 1-3-5 will go on first or lines 2-4-6. Whatever order it is the first day, it is reversed the second. This format can make some matches very interesting because a team could win the doubles and win the first three singles and be done or the match could come down to the last person. I know it can be confusing at times but that's what makes Indoors so fun.
On an ending note, I will share one of my observations that I've noticed over the years at Indoors. It's always funny to see when schools like California, UCLA, Florida and Stanford roll into the tennis center decked out in huge puffy knee-length parka-like jackets. They are covered from head to toe in winter clothing and look like little (or big) Eskimos. I remember UCLA wearing those long trench coats that you see swimmers wear. As for us, we (the northern school) have no such jackets. We only get sweatshirts and some warm-ups that aren't the most resistant to the freezing temperatures. It just boggles my mind that they get these jackets that they probably only wear once a year while we simply go the layer route. I think I'm just going to bust out a purple Snuggie to compete with them. I think we would win hands down!
GO CATS!!!
Speeds
