Northwestern University Athletics
Big Week Ahead for No. 23 Northwestern
4/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
| #23 Northwestern (10-5, 5-2 B1G) vs. #35 Georgia Tech (9-7, 6-4 ACC) |
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| Date | Wednesday, April 8 | 2 p.m. |
| Location | Ken Byers Tennis Complex | Atlanta, Ga. |
| Live Scoring | |
| #23 Northwestern (10-5, 5-2) vs. #61 Minnesota (15-6, 5-2) |
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| Date | Saturday, April 11 | 12 p.m. |
| Location | Baseline Tennis Center | Minneapolis, Minn. |
| Live Scoring | GopherSports.com |
| #23 Northwestern (10-5, 5-2) vs. Wisconsin (10-7, 4-3) |
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| Date | Sunday, April 12 | 10 a.m. |
| Location | Nielsen Tennis Stadium | Madison, Wis. |
| Live Scoring | UWBadgers.com |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The 23rd-ranked Northwestern women's tennis team has a busy week ahead with two weekend conference matches and a midday non-conference affair against No. 35 Georgia Tech.
The Wildcats travel to Atlanta to play the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday at 2 p.m. and then come back to the Midwest for away matches at No. 61 Minnesota on Saturday at noon and Wisconsin on Sunday at 10 a.m.
Northwestern has won six of its last seven matches and currently sits fourth in the Big Ten with a 5-2 conference record. The `Cats won big at home over Rutgers and Maryland last weekend and received strong performances from freshmen Alex Chatt and Rheeya Doshi, who went a combined 7-0 in singles and doubles play. NU swept doubles play and won nine of 12 singles matches over the course of the weekend.
Two NU doubles teams are ranked in this week's ITA national poll. Alicia Barnett and Erin Larner jumped from unranked all the way up to No. 39 with their recent performance. The duo is 5-0 with all five wins coming in the first doubles position. Two weeks ago, Barnett and Larner upset Michigan's 12th-ranked tandem of Emina Bektas ad Alex Najarian. Doshi and Brooke Rischbieth have played their way to a No. 70 ranking. The duo is 4-0 in dual play in the second spot and 5-0 overall.
Minnesota matches Northwestern with a 5-2 conference mark, and Wisconsin paces just behind at 4-3. History has been on the Wildcats' side against both Big Ten rivals with NU holding a 37-5 edge over the Gophers and a 47-15 advantage against Wisconsin. Neither has scored a point on Northwestern in the last two seasons.
The 61st-ranked Golden Gophers are 15-6 overall in 2015. They are winners of their last four in a row, but Northwestern will be the highest ranked team Minnesota has faced since dropping a 7-0 decision to Michigan on March 21.
Wisconsin dropped its first three Big Ten matches but has since won four in a row. The Badgers are 10-7 overall and are led by Lauren Chypyha's 13-3 mark at No. 1 singles.
35th-ranked Georgia Tech is 9-7 and, like Northwestern, has played one of the nation's toughest schedules. The Yellow Jackets have won four of their previous five matches but are just 1-5 against top-25 opponents. Paige Hourigan is the 56th-ranked singles player in the country and has a 9-5 mark combined between the first and second positions. Johnnise Renaud is 7-9 and ranked 104th.
Northwestern concludes the regular season with home matches against Iowa and Nebraska in two weeks, both of which will be held at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center.
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