June 17, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Entering the 2005-06 season, it was hard to imagine Northwestern's women's tennis team could do much to improve its already renowned status on the collegiate women's tennis stage. The Wildcats upped the ante this year, however, as a number of program and individual records were broken, NU won its eighth-straight Big Ten Championship, it advanced to the quarterfinals at the NCAA Championships and Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney) and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) captured the NCAA doubles national title. Surely the 2005-06 'Cats recorded a special season that will be remembered as one of the best in program history.
A few highlights from the 2005-06 campaign to think about:
TEAM
NU won its eighth-straight Big Ten title, just one short of Indiana's record of nine-straight.
The Wildcats advanced to the quarterfinals at the NCAA Championships for the third time in program history and the first time since 1987.
Northwestern finished the season ranked No. 8 in the ITA poll and tied for a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Northwestern was ranked as high as No. 4 in the ITA poll this season (3/7-3/21)
NU tied a program record with 13 shutouts on the season.
The 'Cats tied a program record by qualifying three singles players and one doubles team for the NCAA Championships.
INDIVIDUAL
Grier and Prousis took home the NCAA doubles crown, becoming only the second team in program (and Big Ten) history to claim a national title.
Freshman Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) broke the school record for consecutive singles wins by winning 29-straight matches, besting Grier's previous mark of 28.
Grier, who entered the season already holding the school record for career wins, improved her career record to 181-38. She ends her storied career as NU's and the Big Ten's most successful singles player, as she compiled a 46-1 career conference mark -- believed to be the best singles record ever in Big Ten history.
Grier earns her fourth-straight singles All-America honor, the first player in NU history to receive four-consecutive singles All-America accolades.
Grier and Prousis earn doubles All-America honors. It is the third such laurel of Grier's career and the first for Prousis.
Rose and Feriel Esseghir (Sarasota, Fla./Brickhouse Academy) were named to the NCAA Championships All-Tournament Team for the No. 2 doubles spot.
Grier is named ITA Midwest Player of the Year.
Rose is named ITA Midwest Freshman of the Year.
Grier, Prousis and Rose earn All-Big Ten honors. Grier became only the second player in conference history to be named All-Big Ten in four-consecutive seasons (NU's Katherine Nasser, 1997-2000).
Grier earns her third Big Ten Player of the Year laurel, becoming the first player in conference history to earn the honor three times. An NU player has won the award in each of the last four seasons.
Rose garnered the conference Freshman of the Year accolade, becoming the third Wildcat in the past four seasons to win the award.
Grier and Prousis won the doubles title at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships.
Prousis defeated Grier to win the ITA Midwest Regional Championships singles title.
Grier (4/26, 2/8) and Rose (3/29, 4/12) each earned Big Ten Athlete of the Week laurels.
Grier (1/16), Prousis (10/21) and Rose (4/10) were named Hilton Garden Inn Athletes of the Week throughout the season.
Grier was named a Big Ten Sportsmanship nominee.
Four Wildcats were ranked in singles this season: Grier was ranked as high as No. 8 (3/7 & 4/4), Prousis was ranked as high as No. 12 (1/10), Rose was ranked as high as No. 33 (2/22) and freshman Nazlie Ghazal was ranked No. 108 (1/10).
Six Wildcat doubles teams were ranked by the ITA this season: Grier/Prousis finished the season ranked No. 1, Prousis/Rose were No. 49 in the preseason poll, Grier Rose were ranked No. 44 (1/10), Esseghir/Rose were ranked No. 37 (3/7), Esseghir/Prousis were ranked No. 51 (2/22) and Alexis Conill (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons)/Rose were ranked No. 56 (4/4).
Wow!! Now that is a season to write home about.
NU kicked off the year with a successful fall season which saw the Wildcats take a singles and doubles title at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, held in East Lansing, Mich.
In singles, Grier, Prousis and Rose tore through the championship bracket and each reached the quarterfinals. While Rose fell to Wisconsin's Brooke Burke in the quarters, Prousis and Grier advanced to the championship round. The Wildcats returned to Evanston to play the title match, where Prousis topped Grier 7-5, 6-3.
In doubles, Grier and Prousis dominated the field by winning five-straight matches to claim the ITA Midwest Regional Championships doubles crown. The duo easily handled Wisconsin's Burke and Caitlin Beck to take the title.
It was the second-straight season NU won the doubles crown and qualified an all-Wildcat singles finale.
Grier and Prousis each qualified for the ITA National Indoor Championships in singles as well as a doubles tandem.
After the Wildcats had an impressive fall showing, they geared up for dual match play by beginning the spring at the National Collegiate Tennis Championships in Indian Wells, Calif.
There, NU's doubles teams of Grier and Prousis and Rose and Conill each advanced to the semifinals. Grier and Prousis topped Rose and Conill in the round of four, but then fell to USC's team of Luana Magnani and Lindsey Nelson to claim second.
In singles, Grier advanced to the semifinals, where she fell to Stanford's Whitney Deason 6-3, 6-2.
Following the Wildcat Invitational the next week, Northwestern was finally set to begin dual play.
The Wildcats began the dual season by taking a dominating 6-1 road victory over then-No. 3 Texas.
The Wildcats then proceeded to take two of three matches at the National Team Indoor Championships. The Wildcats beat then-No. 12 Kentucky, 5-2, and then-No. 6 Georgia, 6-0.
NU went on to win its next four matches, including decisions over No. 53 Alabama and No. 9 Harvard.
After winning its Big Ten opener over Wisconsin, Northwestern stumbled on the road with a pair of losses to No. 6 North Carolina and No. 8 Duke.
After hitting a two-match skid, NU faced a potential season-changing match on the road versus No. 3 Georgia Tech. The Wildcats fell behind early to the 'Jackets, but rallied to take a huge 4-3 win.
The win propelled the Wildcats back onto the winning track and they went on to win 10 of their next 11, including a sweep of their conference slate. Their only slip up came on the road at then-No. 2 Notre Dame, falling 4-3 to the Fighting Irish.
By winning the Big Ten regular-season title for the sixth-time in the last eight seasons, the Wildcats automatically claimed the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the Big Ten Championships.
After blanking Penn State and Purdue, NU advanced to the championship round where they faced No. 2 seeded Michigan. In the title match, the Wildcats dropped the doubles point for only the sixth time on the season, but rallied behind a strong singles showing to take a 4-1 win and claim their eighth-straight Big Ten title.
Following the Big Ten Championships, the Wildcats' eyes were glued to ESPNnews on May 3, where they learned they received a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Championships and qualified three singles players and a doubles team.
Northwestern also learned it would host an NCAA Regional Championship for the sixth-consecutive season, where it would host Illinois-Chicago, No. 17 Harvard and No. 43 Purdue.
The ''Cats began the NCAA Championships by taking wins over UIC and Purdue to advance to the tournament's "Sweet 16" in Palo Alto, Calif.
In the round of 16, the Wildcats would face Georgia Tech -- the No. 6 seed -- for the second time this season. There, the Wildcats sprinted out to a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point before winning three-straight singles matches to claim their program-record-tying 13th-straight shutout of the season. With the win, the Wildcats earned a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time under head coach Claire Pollard.
In the quarters, NU faced third-ranked Southern California. The match was one of the most hard-fought, intense battles of the seasons. After taking a quick 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point, the two teams went back-and-forth and ultimately ended up at 3-3 with only the No. 6 singles match in progress. USC took the match, but the Wildcats' heart and high quality of play was evident throughout the match, as NU fell just a few points short of upsetting one of the nation's most highly regarded teams.
While NU's dual season was over, Grier, Prousis and Rose still had to compete as individuals.
In singles, Prousis fell in the round of 64, while Rose advanced to the round of 32 and Grier fell in the round of 16.
What happened next stunned the world of collegiate tennis. NU's un-seeded doubles team of Grier and Prousis displayed brilliant play and won five-straight matches to become NCAA doubles national champions.
After beating ASU's 16th-ranked team of Roxanne Clarke and Kady Poolar, NU beat Cal's eighth-ranked team of Szuzsanna Fodor and Suzi Babos to advance to the doubles championship quarterfinals.
In the quarters, the 'Cats topped Georgia Tech's 10th-ranked team of Lindsay Shosho and Kristi Miller in three sets to become the second Wildcat team in as many seasons to qualify for the NCAA doubles semifinals.
NU wasn't just happy to be there, however, and proved to be rude guests as it knocked off host and top-seeded Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey 6-3, 6-2 to punch its ticket in the championship match.
In the title bout, Northwestern defeated Fresno State's seventh-ranked duo of Katharina Winterhalter and Lucia Sainz, earning themselves the title of national champions.
Needless to say, this was a season that will forever be remembered in Northwestern women's tennis history. Thanks to their hard work, tireless effort and quality play, NU proved it should be considered a perennial power not only on the Big Ten, but on the national level as well.