Friday, February 26
Champaign, Ill.
6 p.m.
Northwestern
at
Illinois
'Cats Open Big Ten Season at Illinois, Host Georgia Tech
2/25/2016 3:46:00 PM | Women's Tennis
| NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S TENNIS: MATCH INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS |
| Fri., Feb. 26 | #59 Illinois | 6 p.m. | Atkins Tennis Center (Urbana, Ill.) | FightingIllini.com | FightingIllini.com |
| Sun., Feb. 28 | #36 Georgia Tech | 11 a.m. | Combe Tennis Center (Evanston, Ill.) | NUsports.com | NUsports.com |
| Social: Twitter (@NUWildcatTennis) | Facebook | Instagram | |||||
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern opens up its Big Ten season Friday when it travels to Illinois before hosting Georgia Tech on Sunday at Combe Tennis Center. Friday's match gets underway at 6 p.m. while Sunday's contest is slated for an 11 a.m. start.
The Wildcats are looking to get things on track after facing a challenging schedule to open their season. Ranked No. 53 this week, Northwestern has played all six of its dual matches to date against teams that were ranked No. 27 or better at the time of their matchup.
The 'Cats (1-5) have played several close matches but haven't been able to come away with a victory since a season opening win over 27th-ranked Arizona State. Most recently, NU suffered a 5-2 loss at No. 17 Alabama last Sunday, dropping a pair of doubles matches in tiebreakers as well as three singles matches that went to a third set. Alex Chatt and Erin Larner picked up singles wins for Northwestern against the Crimson Tide.
Redshirt sophomore Maddie Lipp has risen to a career-best No. 35 national ranking this week according to the ITA. Lipp and Chatt are ranked No. 13 in doubles while the team of Larner and Alicia Barnett are No. 43 this week.
Illinois is No. 59 in this week's ITA team rankings. The Fighting Illini are 4-4 on the season and are coming off a 4-3 loss at home to DePaul last Friday. The team is 3-0 vs. teams that are unranked and 1-4 against squads that do have a national ranking. Illinois has one ranked player in singles as junior Louise Kwong is No. 113 this week. Northwestern has a 48-7 all-time record against Illinois, including winning the last 15 meetings between the teams. A year ago, the Wildcats beat the Fighting Illini 6-1 on March 20 before posting a 4-3 win in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten tournament.
Georgia Tech boasts a No. 36 national ranking and takes a 5-4 record into Friday's home match against N.C. State prior to coming to Evanston. The Yellow Jackets have a pair of individuals with national rankings as Johnnise Renaud is No. 37 and Rasheeda McAdoo is No. 74. In doubles, the duo of Kendal Woodard and Paige Hourigan are ranked No. 27. Northwestern holds a slim 7-6 series lead all-time vs. Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Wildcats 5-2 last season on April 8 in Atlanta.
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Players Mentioned
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