Jan. 26, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 5 Northwestern heads south to College Station, Texas this weekend for a pair of tough dual matches against 16th-ranked Texas A&M and 14th-ranked Kentucky. NU will face the host Aggies at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29 before taking on Kentucky at 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 30.
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Northwestern boasts a 5-1 all-time record against Texas A&M. The Wildcats also have Kentucky's number in the all-time series with a 6-2 mark.
The 16th-ranked Aggies return four Big 12 singles champions from last year's team that captured the Big 12 Tournament crown. The team also advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and set a school record for wins with a 24-8 mark.
This weekend marks the first spring competition for Texas A&M. In the Aggies' last time out in the fall, they won 22 of 23 matches -- including a victory over the nation's then top-ranked doubles team -- at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii. Helga Vieira and Anna Lubinsky highlighted the Invitational with a win over then top-ranked Dianne Hollands and Maja Mlakar of Arizona. Vieira and Lubinsky enter the spring season ranked 28th as a tandem.
Kentucky began its spring season this past Tuesday, enjoying decisive victories over Marshall and Louisville. The 14th-ranked `Cats dealt No. 60 Marshall a 6-1 defeat before also beating Louisville by a 6-1 count.
UK's sixth-ranked doubles tandem of senior Aibika Kalsarieva and sophomore Sarah Foster won both of their doubles matches Tuesday. The duo will most likely face Northwestern's Audra Cohen (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) and Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) -- the nation's top-ranked doubles team.
All three schools have individuals in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) preseason singles rankings as well.
Texas A&M's Vieira ranks 47th. Kentucky's Kalsarieva ranks seventh, Foster ranks 30th and Kim Coventry ranks 58th.
Northwestern's Cohen is the top-ranked singles player. Grier ranks fourth, while sophomore Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) ranks 49th.
Following this weekend's dual matches, Northwestern travels to Wisconsin to compete in the National Indoor Championship Feb. 3-6.