Feb. 24, 2011
No. 18 Northwestern (5-5, 1-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 3 North Carolina (7-2, 0-0 ACC)
Saturday, Feb. 26
Combe Tennis Center
Evanston, Ill. 11 a.m. CT
Live Stats: NUsports.com
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern and North Carolina have come together for a number of high-stakes dual matches the last few years, with the most recent coming just last Saturday in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Indoor Team Championship. NU came out on the short end of a 4-3 outcome in that match but will have another crack at the third-ranked Tar Heels at 11 a.m. Saturday, this time on its home courts in Evanston.
Fans are encouraged to come support the 18th-ranked Wildcats and enjoy a number of exciting promotions surrounding Saturday's match. During the intermission between doubles and singles play, fans will be treated to free pizza and also have the opportunity to compete in the serving contest with chances to win great Northwestern tennis prizes as well as an Apple iPod. One lucky fan will walk away with a free racket as the Fan of the Match raffle winner.
After the match, fans can interact and take photos with members of the Northwestern women's tennis team in an autograph and meet-and-greet session on the courts of the Combe Tennis Center.
NU stands at 5-5 on the year, with all five of its losses coming to teams currently ranked in the top-15 in the Campbell's/ITA College Tennis poll. The 'Cats have picked up a number of quality singles and doubles victories recently to help them climb in the individual rankings.
Senior Maria Mosolova sits at No. 29 nationally after topping UNC's 13th-ranked Zoe DeBruycker in two sets last week while sophomore Brittany Wowchuk is No. 45 and Kate Turvy and Belinda Niu are neighbors at No. 98 and 100, respectively.
Northwestern's doubles lineup has been a source of strength this year, which was the case when the Wildcats bested the Tar Heels for the doubles point last Saturday. NU's team of No. 58 Mosolova and Niu won in tiebreakers at No. 2 while Elena Chernyakova and Turvy managed a 9-7 victory against UNC's tandem of DeBruycker and Jennifer Stone.
The two teams split their regular-season matchups during the 2009-10 campaign, which included a win for the Wildcats in the final of the 2010 ITA National Indoor Team Championship. North Carolina's win in the most recent meeting upped their all-time advantage over Northwestern to 11-6.
Looking ahead, head coach Claire Pollard have a lone match at home against Texas on March 5 before a 19-day break from competition.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!