March 20, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After an almost three-week hiatus, Northwestern's sixth-ranked women's tennis team jumps back into action when it travels to the great Northwest to face Washington at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 21.
The Wildcats (8-3, 1-0) have put together an impressive season thus far, despite playing eight opponents ranked in the top-15 of the ITA Fila poll.
In their last outing, the 'Cats staged a comeback to top No. 3 Georgia Tech 4-3. Down 3-2 with two singles matches remaining, freshman Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) topped No. 74 Lyndsay Shosho at No. 2 singles to tie the score at 3-3. Fellow freshman Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) then outlasted the Jackets' Christy Striplin at No. 6 singles to secure the win for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats are led by senior All-American Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney), who is the nation's eighth-ranked singles player. Grier has compiled a 23-9 overall record this season, including an 8-2 dual mark while primarily playing at the No. 1 spot.
Junior Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) is ranked No. 16 in the country and has a team-high 24 singles wins this year. Prousis stands at 24-9 this year and is 7-4 in dual matches while playing at both the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.
Rose has quickly moved up the rankings during her rookie year, earning a career-best No. 33 ranking according to the latest poll. Rose has been stellar this year as she has remained a perfect 11-0 during the dual season. She is 23-6 overall on the year, giving her a team-best winning percentage of .793. She has competed at both the No. 2 and No. 3 singles positions this year.
Rose's classmate Ghazal also has hit the ground running during her first season of college tennis, posting a 20-7 overall record, including a 7-3 dual record while playing at the No. 6 spot. She is ranked No. 108 by the ITA, which is the first ranking of Ghazal's collegiate career.
The doubles tandem of Grier and Prousis has been a big reason for Northwestern's success in the doubles portion of its matches this year. The duo is 16-5 overall and is ranked No. 5 by the ITA.
Feriel Esseghir (Sarasota, Fla./Brickhouse Academy), alongside Rose, have put together a team-best 6-0 doubles record in dual matches this year. The team is ranked 37th by the ITA.
Their last time out, the Huskies made the trip down to Los Angeles to face No. 5 USC and No. 16 UCLA. The Trojans proved too talented, sweeping the Huskies 7-0. USC won each singles match in straight sets and swept the doubles point.
The following day against UCLA, Washington notched its first point of the year in Pac-10 play when Tara Simpson outplayed Alex McGoodwin at No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-3. All other singles matches went to the Bruins.
The Wildcats lead the all-time series with the Huskies, 4-1.
Live scoring will be available on GoHuskies.com.