Feb. 1, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's fourth-ranked women's tennis team heads to Madison, Wis., this week to participate in the USTA-ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships Feb. 2-5 at the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium. This marks the 19th year of the Indoor Championships, which is collegiate tennis' premier indoor tournament. This year's field includes 16 of the nation's top teams, with 15 of them ranked top-25 in the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings. The Wildcats received the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will face No. 17 California at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 2.
The Wildcats enter the tournament after upsetting then-No. 3 Texas in their first dual match of the season last week. After dropping the doubles point, Northwestern rallied to sweep the singles portion of the match and take a 6-1 win.
Northwestern is led by the nation's 12th-ranked singles player Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and No. 23 Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney). The two also combine to form the eighth-ranked doubles team. Prousis is 18-5 overall this season, while Grier has posted a 16-7 record.
While the entire lineup has been consistent throughout the spring season, senior Feriel Esseghir (Sarasota, Fla./Brickhouse Academy/UCLA) has put together an impressive streak. After dropping her first three singles matches to begin the fall season, Esseghir has rallied to win her last eight matches and stands at 5-0 this spring.
The 'Cats went 2-1 in last year's tournament after falling to Georgia in the opening round, then rallying to beat New Mexico and Tulane in the consolation rounds.
California is off to a strong start in 2006, going 2-0 in dual-match play by sweeping both Cal Poly and St. Mary's. As a team, the Golden Bears have notched a 24-9 overall-singles record for the spring and a 9-3 doubles record.
Cal is led by 14th-ranked Suzi Babos and 19th-ranked Zsuzsanna Fodor. Both players stand at 4-1 in singles play this spring. In doubles, the two are ranked seventh nationally.
The head coach of the Golden Bears is Jan Brogan, who has compiled a 503-205 record in 28 years at the helm of the women's tennis program.