Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Ball State
'Cats Host Ball State, Saint Louis Saturday to Open Dual Match Season
1/19/2018 12:36:00 PM | Women's Tennis
| NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S TENNIS: GAME DAY INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | VIDEO | LIVE STATS |
| Sat., Jan. 20 | Ball State | 10 a.m. | Combe Tennis Center Evanston, Ill. |
NUsports.com | NUsports.com |
| Sat., Jan. 20 | Saint Louis | 3 p.m. | Combe Tennis Center Evanston, Ill. |
NUsports.com | NUsports.com |
| Social: Twitter (@NUWildcatTennis) | Instagram (@nuwildcattennis) | Facebook | |||||
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's women's tennis team opens its 2018 dual match season Saturday when it hosts a pair of matches at Combe Tennis Center.
The Wildcats square off with Ball State at 10 a.m. before taking on Saint Louis at 3 p.m. Admission is free of charge.
Head coach Claire Pollard is in her 20th season at the helm of the 'Cats and welcomes back a veteran group that went 15-12 against one of the nation's toughest schedules a year ago. NU went 9-2 in Big Ten play last season. The Wildcats have participated in the NCAA tournament each year of Pollard's tenure and advanced to the round of 32 in 2017 while finishing the season ranked No. 35.
Northwestern's experienced squad in 2018 is led by seniors Alex Chatt, Erin Larner and Maddie Lipp. Chatt and Lipp participated in the NCAA Doubles Championship for the second straight year in 2017 while Larner has competed primarily at the No. 1 singles spot in NU's lineup each of the last two seasons.
The Wildcats have three singles players ranked nationally to open the campaign as junior Lee Or is No. 60, Lipp is No. 92 and redshirt junior Rheeya Doshi is No. 99.
Northwestern experienced a very strong fall season in doubles and it's reflected in the national rankings. The duo of Larner and Lipp are ranked No. 4 while Chatt and Or are No. 8. Or and Larner are No. 11 when paired with one another while Lipp and Chatt are No. 29. Newcomers Inci Ogut and Julie Byrne are No. 40.
Ball State posted an impressive 20-3 dual match record last season and went 9-0 in MAC play but fell to Miami (Ohio) in the MAC tournament semifinal round. Junior Peyton Gollhofer was a second-team All-MAC selection in 2017.
Saint Louis went 16-8 overall a year ago, falling to VCU in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament semifinal round. The Billikens will be looking to replace a trio of all-conference selections.
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