'Cats Open Dual Season against UIC and No. 16 Kansas

NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S TENNIS: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	VIDEO	LIVE STATS
Friday, Jan. 18	UIC	3 p.m.	Combe Tennis Center Evanston, Ill.	NUsports.com	NUsports.com
Sunday, Jan. 20	#16 Kansas	Noon	Lawrence, Kan. Jawhawk Tennis Center	KUathletics.com	StatBroadcast
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EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 19 Northwestern kicks off its dual season this weekend with a home matchup against UIC on Friday before hitting the road for a ranked test at No. 16 Kansas on Sunday.

Fans attending Friday's match can park in the north garage for free (gates will be up following match). Following the match, the team will be doing a meet and greet clinic. Fans can bring their rackets and play on the courts.

The Wildcats are returning to dual play after a strong 2018 season, where they finished 23-6 and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament after hosting matches for the first time since 2014. The 'Cats completed an undefeated Big Ten season for the first time since 2009 and took home their 13th regular season conference title under head coach Claire Pollard.

Northwestern opened its season last weekend at the Miami Spring Invite with a strong showing against No. 17 Miami, Vanderbilt and Kentucky across singles and doubles.

First year Clarissa Hand, ranked No. in 100 singles, earned a statement win over No. 7 Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami in straight sets, while also teaming up with Senior Lee Or to knock off No. 51 Yuna Ita and Ulyana Shirokova in doubles.

Hand was named Big Ten Tennis Athlete of the Weekn, marking the first time a rookie has won the honor since 2015.

Junior Julie Byrne claimed another notable result in Miami with a three-set, comeback win over No. 82 Daniella Roldan of the Hurricanes. Along with first year Hannah McColgan, she also toppled the No. 26 doubles team of Summer Dvorak and Christina Rosca of Vanderbilt.

Northwestern No. 34 doubles team of Carol Finke and Caroline Pozo also claimed a win against Vanderbilt.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

UIC

The Flames finished last season 15-7 while winning the Horizon League regular season title with an 8-1 record in conference. Four seniors graduated from last year's team and the Flames are led by Lucie Prochazkova, a sophomore transfer who went 10-5 in one year at Florida State, and Karyna Bihel, a junior transfer that posted as 12-10 record at two years in Minnesota.

The Wildcats lead the all-time series against UIC, 7-0, with the last meeting between the two schools coming in 2013.

No. 16 Kansas

The Jayhawks finished 17-8 last year and second in the Big 12 with 7-2 record. They advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 12 Pepperdine. Head Coach Todd Chapman returns five competitors from last year, including three seniors who are all ranked in No. 34 Janet Koch, No. 70 Nina Khmelnitckaia, and No. 109, Anastasia Rychagova. Koch and Khmelnitckaia also comprise the No. 4 doubles team the in the country, while Rychagova and first year Sonia Smagina are ranked No. 27 as a duo.

Northwestern owns the all-time series against Kansas with a 3-0 record, but has not faced off against the Jayhawks since 1996.

'Cats Open Dual Season against UIC and No. 16 Kansas

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Players Mentioned

Julie Byrne

Carol Finke

Clarissa Hand

Hannah McColgan

Lee Or

Caroline Pozo

Northwestern University Athletics