Northwestern
Baylor
No. 23 Northwestern Welcomes Baylor, Illinois
2/17/2017 9:41:00 AM | Women's Tennis
| NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S TENNIS: GAME DAY INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | VIDEO | LIVE STATS |
| Fri., Feb. 17 | Baylor | 5 p.m. | Combe Tennis Center | NUsports.com | SIDEARM |
| Sun., Feb. 19 | Illinois | 11 a.m. | Combe Tennis Center | NUsports.com | SIDEARM |
| Social: Twitter (@NUWildcatTennis and @NU_SportsLIVE) | Instagram (@nuwildcattennis) | Facebook | |||||
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 23 Northwestern hosts a pair of matches at Combe Tennis Center this weekend as it welcomes an undefeated Baylor squad at 5 p.m. Friday before opening Big Ten play against Illinois at 11 a.m. Sunday.
The Wildcats (4-3) have been off from competition since suffering a narrow 4-3 loss at No. 10 Duke Feb. 5. It was the second loss by NU to the Blue Devils in Durham by the same score this season, including a tough defeat in the championship match of ITA Kick-Off Weekend Jan. 29.
All three of Northwestern's defeats have been to top-10 opponents as the Wildcats' lone other loss came 5-2 at No. 9 Vanderbilt Feb. 3.
The battled-tested 'Cats will be playing their first home match since rolling to a 6-1 win over Harvard Jan. 21.
NU has two doubles teams and three singles players ranked in this week's ITA national rankings. The duo of Maddie Lipp and Alex Chatt are No. 15 while Rheeya Doshi and Jillian Rooney are No. 34, though Rooney is not expected to compete this weekend due to injury.
In singles, Lipp comes in at No. 87 while Brooke Rischbieth is No. 103 and Lee Or is No. 110.
Baylor comes into Friday's match with a 5-0 record as the Bears compete away from Waco for the first time this season. The team is coming off a 4-2 win over in-state foe Rice last Saturday. The Bears have a nationally ranked doubles team in the pairing of Blair Shankle and Elizabeth Profit (No. 9). Shankle, a senior, also is ranked No. 9 nationally in singles.
Baylor leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 6-5, including a 4-2 win on March 23 of last season in Waco.
Illinois will bring a 3-5 record into Evanston on Sunday. The Fighting Illini most recently defeated Eastern Illinois 7-0 at home last Sunday. Madie Baillon sports a No. 97 national ranking in singles. Northwestern posted a narrow 4-3 win over Illinois in Urbana last season in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Alicia Barnett won a third-set tiebreaker in the decisive match.
Northwestern has a 49-7 all-time record against Illinois, including winning the last 16 meetings between the schools.
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