May 28, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill.--A sixth-straight Big Ten Championship, a unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year, a Big Ten Coach of the Year, a No. 6 national ranking and a trip to the NCAA Championships.
In other words, it was another stellar season for Northwestern's women's tennis team.
"We definitely took some more steps forward as a program," head coach Claire Pollard said. "But I think there is still work to be done to elevate ourselves to the next level."
The Wildcats began their campaign in late September, with some players competing in the adidas Invitational and others playing at the Cissie Leary Invitational. Senior Jessica Rush (Dallas, Texas/Hockaday School) won the consolation draw in the former, winning five consecutive matches after dropping her first. Connie Chiang (Oshkosh, Wis./Oshkosh West), meanwhile, advanced to the consolation semifinal round at Cissie Leary.
As October came along, the 'Cats found them split as a team once again. Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) and Rush had action at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, where they captured second place, while the rest of the team participated in the Wildcat Invitational at home.
NU players ended up winning three titles at their own tournament. Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) won the purple doubles' main draw in their first competition as partners, Andrea Yung (San Marino, Calif./San Marino) and Chiang won the white doubles' main draw and Kristi Roemer (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) defeated Chiang to win the third flight singles' main draw.
The following month, the Wildcats headed to Kalamazoo, Mich. for the ITA Midwest Championships. Grier and Rush dominated the event, with Grier winning the singles title, Rush advancing to the semifinals in the singles draw and the two combining to win the doubles championship. As a result, they qualified for the ITA National Indoor Championships a week later.
There, Rush and Grier made history by becoming the first Big Ten tandem to win the event's doubles title. That gave Northwestern its first national title in any sport since 1999.
"Winning the national championship helped the girls realize how good they can be," Pollard said. "It set the tone for the remainder of the season and helped us be ready for the big moments to come."
The 'Cats moved into 2004 ranked No. 14 and sporting the top-ranked doubles duo in the nation in Rush and Grier. January marked the start of dual play, and NU opened by winning all three of its dual matches in the month, topping Eastern Michigan, No. 9 William & Mary and No. 52 New Mexico.
NU began February at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wis. The Wildcats went 2-1 at the event, beating No. 13 Kentucky and No. 25 Texas A&M but falling to No. 4 Georgia. Against the Bulldogs, Grier defeated No. 1 Agata Cioroch in straight sets for her fourth consecutive triumph against a ranked opponent.
The 'Cats took three of their next five matches in February, beginning with triumphs over No. 37 South Alabama and No. 11 Harvard. Then came road losses to No. 10 Duke and No. 9 North Carolina.
Fortunately, the Wildcats were able to bounce back as they upset fourth-ranked Washington 4-3 at Combe Tennis Center. Peisel clinched the contest with her 6-2, 7-6 (4) triumph over her foe at No. 4; the sophomore would not lose for the rest of the season.
March was kicked off with a rare weekday match in which the team blanked Marquette 7-0. Now it was time to set sights on the Big Ten.
First was No. 73 Wisconsin. The Wildcats, who shot up to No. 6 in the nation, made short work of the Badgers, earning their second straight 7-0 sweep. After a spring break trip to Miami, Fla. that included a 6-1 victory over area-rival DePaul, Northwestern came back home to resume conference play with a contest against Indiana.
The Wildcats added another dominating performance to their resume, handling the No. 32 Hoosiers 6-1 to close out the month like a lion instead of a lamb.
After breezing past Purdue 7-0 in West Lafayette, Ind., the Wildcats headed to Champaign, Ill. to duel archrival Illinois. The 24th-ranked Illini stunned the 'Cats 4-3 for what would turn out to be the squad's only Big Ten loss.
Back in the comforts of home, NU rolled past Minnesota and Iowa before edging No. 24 Notre Dame 4-3 on the road. Peisel clinched the comeback victory, which took about five hours, with a grueling, three-set victory in which she won two tiebreakers.
By mid-April, with routs of Penn State and Ohio State, Northwestern finished its regular season 12-0 in Evanston.
The regular-season title was still up for grabs heading into the final weekend of Big Ten play, with Northwestern, Illinois and Indiana all in the running for top honors. For the 'Cats to walk away with the title and the No.1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they would need to beat Michigan and Michigan State and have Indiana topple Illinois.
Fortunately, Indiana held up its end of the bargain, and the Wildcats then took care of their half, squeaking past the Wolverines 4-3 and defeating the Spartans 6-1. The win against Michigan was Pollard's 200th career victory at NU.
Considering that the 'Cats held the No.1 seed and were the host of the Big Ten Championship, they were hopeful that they could earn their sixth-straight title. After a 4-1 victory over Purdue in the quarterfinal round, the Wildcats were matched up with Michigan. Once again, the Wolverines pushed the 'Cats to the brink, but Northwestern held on for another 4-3 decision.
With No. 3 Illinois and No. 2 Indiana falling in upsets, Northwestern's opponent in the final was sixth-seeded Ohio State. The Buckeyes made things interesting, but the Wildcats, with some help from a standing-room only crowd, churned out a 4-1 victory and another Big Ten Championship.
"I am just elated for the team," said Pollard, whose teams have never lost in tournament play. "It is hard to put into words how great winning six in a row is, especially in front of a great home crowd."
More good things happened as Grier was unanimously picked as the Big Ten Player of the Year. It was the second time the sophomore had won the award, and it gave Northwestern three such honors in a row. Meanwhile, Pollard was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, and Rush was an All-Big Ten selection.
Two weeks after the Big Ten Championship, Notre Dame, Illinois-Chicago and Iowa came to town for the NCAA Regional Championship. NU, seeded 10th in the tournament, disposed of UIC and Notre Dame en route to its 10th appearance in the Round of 16.
There, the 'Cats were unable to avenge their earlier loss to the Blue Devils, losing four singles matches after taking a thrilling doubles point to close out with a 25-5 record. The season, however, was not over as Grier and Rush were set to compete in the singles and doubles tournament.
Rush made it to the Round of 32 before getting eliminated; Grier advanced to the quarterfinal round for the second consecutive year. As a duo, they ended play in the quarterfinals but accumulated a 41-5 record in the process. Those 41 wins easily surpassed the school's previous season record of 26, set in 1986.
Grier, meanwhile, broke her own school record of 38 season wins with a 40-5 overall record. Her career record stands at 75-11 (.872), including 52-2 in duals and 25-0 in Big Ten play. She and the other returning starters--Peisel, Prousis and Yung--will help the team stay in the top 10 next season.
Thus, in 2004-05, Northwestern's women's tennis team will find itself in a situation they have faced many times in recent memory: replicating and improving upon the previous year's success. If history repeats itself, then the Wildcats have nowhere to go but up.