Feb. 15, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After falling one match short of upsetting then top-ranked Georgia Tech, the sixth-ranked Wildcats are set to welcome two more top-10 opponents to the Combe Tennis Center this weekend. The 'Cats host No. 10 Baylor at 3 p.m. Friday before taking on seventh-ranked North Carolina at 11 a.m. Sunday morning.
Quoting Coach Pollard
"We get two fabulous opportunites against quality teams to show the country we belong with the very best," head coach Claire Pollard said.
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.
Watch Video Highlights of the 'Cats
to watch highlights of Rose and Prousis' match against Georgia Tech.
Last Time Out
Sixth-ranked Northwestern captured the doubles point, but the top-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets captured four of six singles matches to down the Wildcats Monday at a packed Combe Tennis Center, 4-3. Sophomore Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) continued her stellar play -- downing Tech's 25th-ranked Kirsten Flower in straight sets at No. 1 singles.
The No. 2 doubles had the enthusiastic crowd following every point with the crucial doubles tally on the line. Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) and Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) jumped out to an early 4-1 lead over Tarryn Rudman and Alison Silverio before Tech stormed back to take a 7-4 lead.
The duo held off one match point at 7-4 and made the score 7-5 with the break. They held for 7-6 and scored another break to tie the match at 7-7. Rudman and Silverio broke back and served for the match and the doubles point at 8-7, but the 'Cats held off another two match points and won the game to force a third-set tiebreaker.
It was all Northwestern in the seven-pointer as the 'Cats pushed to a 6-1 lead and won the breaker, 7-2, to give NU the 1-0 lead.
Tech won four singles matches with NU's only wins coming at No. 1 with Rose and No. 6 with sophomore Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National).
Northwestern Notes
Northwestern's record is 5-2 heading into a weekend doubleheader against top-10 opponents. The 'Cats only losses were against second-ranked Notre Dame and third-ranked Georgia Tech. In both matches the 'Cats almost eeked out a victory before losing by a 4-3 score. The 'Cats have already defeated three top-15 opponents this season, downing No. 8 Miami (Fla.), No. 11 Duke and No. 15 UCLA.
Rose has returned from injury and been the same dominant player that won 30 straight singles matches last year. Rose has posted an impressive 5-1 record at No. 1 singles. The sophomore has claimed straight-set singles victories over No. 25 Kirsten Flower, No. 35 Riza Zalameda, and No. 41 Catrina Thompson.