April 12, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After a 2-0 weekend with wins over No. 13 William & Mary and No. 37 Indiana, the ninth-ranked Wildcats are set to play their final three home regular-season contests. The 'Cats face second-ranked Notre Dame at 3 p.m. Friday before taking on a pair of Big Ten opponents in Minnesota and Iowa at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Due to cold weather, matches will likely be held indoors at the Combe Tennis Center.
Senior Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), the 2006 NCAA doubles champion, 2006 All-American and two-time All-Big Ten selection, will be honored Sunday during the 'Cats final home regular season dual against Iowa.
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Northwestern faces Notre Dame Friday in a battle of Midwest powers for the second time this season. The Fighting Irish took a close 4-3 match from the Wildcats on Feb. 3 in the semifinals of the ITA Indoor Championships.
The Irish captured the doubles point, but the Wildcats took wins at the top three singles spots, including straight-set wins by Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) at No. 1 and Prousis at No. 3. Notre Dame captured No. 4 and No. 5 with the clincher coming at No. 6. Katie Potts topped Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) by taking two tiebreakers.
Friday's match will feature several ranked singles players and doubles teams. Rose is ranked 11th in singles, Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) is No. 29 and Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) is No. 113. 26th-ranked Catrina Thompson and No. 48 Cosmina Ciobanu lead Notre Dame.
In doubles, NU's 13th-ranked Rose and Prousis, coming off a win over the top-ranked team in the nation last Friday, will face Notre Dame's eighth-ranked Catrina and Christian Thompson. Their match earlier this season was not completed.
The Wildcats will face two more ranked teams in Big Ten foes No. 57 Minnesota and No. 55 Iowa.
Last Time Out
Northwestern won contests over 13th-ranked William & Mary and 31st-ranked Indiana last weekend. On Friday, the 13th-ranked doubles team of Prousis and Rose upset William & Mary's top-ranked Megan Moulton-Levy and Katarina Zoricic as the Wildcats downed the Tribe, 4-3. Ghazal captured the clincher at No. 6.
Prousis and Rose found themselves down 6-3 to the nation's top-ranked doubles team, but rallied back to win 8-6 and break Moulton-Levy and Zoricic's 24-match winning streak. Ghazal captured the clincher for the Wildcats in three sets over Lauren Sabacinski 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Due to travel complications, Saturday's match against Ohio State was rescheduled for Wednesday, April 18, but the 'Cats downed 31st-ranked Indiana Sunday, 5-2.
Northwestern surrendered its first two doubles matches of Big Ten play and trailed 1-0 heading into singles, but won 5-of-6 matches to improve to 6-0 in the Big Ten and hand Indiana its first conference loss. Rose did not give up a game en route to a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles and the doubles pair of Lui and Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) improved to 8-0 as a team with a win at No. 2 doubles.
Notes:
Robison and Lui are 8-0 in duals since being teamed up for the Michigan dual on 2/23.
In singles, Robison is 8-2 in duals and is currently enjoying a four-match winning streak
Rose fell in three sets to William & Mary's eighth-ranked Megan Moulton-Levy on Friday, breaking a 10-match winning streak for the sophomore. Overall, Rose is 14-2 in duals.