Jan. 26, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After a dominating win over DePaul to start the 2007 dual season, the ninth-ranked Wildcats are set to welcome the 10th-ranked Duke Blue Devils to the Combe Tennis Center, Sunday at 11:30 a.m. The match is the first test in a tough stretch for the young 'Cats, whose next four home matches will come against top-10 teams.
"We are looking forward to a great test this early in the season," head coach Claire Pollard said.
Although this will be the first dual against a ranked team, the 'Cats are no strangers to elite competition. They started the winter season with the National Collegiate Tennis Classic (NCTC) held in Palm Springs, Calif. NU went up against top teams such as Georgia Tech, UCLA, USC, Stanford and Texas.
The Wildcats had a successful weekend with freshman Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) leading the way. The freshman earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors for her 3-1 record with two wins over ranked opponents. Murray advanced to the round of 16 after defeating Stanford's Leija Hodzic in three sets. The freshman then went on to defeat Georgia Tech's No. 25 Kirsten Flower 6-2, 6-3 and knocked off UCLA's No. 35 Riza Zalameda 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance to the semifinals where Murray fell to USC's top-seeded Lyndsey Nelson, the eventual champion of the singles draw.
Follow Matches From Your Computer!
Live results will be provided for every home match held indoors at the Combe Tennis Center. Live Stats can be found under the match name on the front page of NUsports.com or at this link: Tennis Live Stats.
Last Time Out
The 'Cats defeated DePaul 6-1 in their dual-season opener. NU swept the doubles point with sophomores Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) putting on the most dominant display with an 8-1 win at No. 3. In singles, Ghazal won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5, while No. 1 Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) won her match 6-0, 6-1.