Northwestern women’s tennis coach Claire Pollard isn’t too worried about her team’s competition as it opens its dual-meet season today against DePaul. In fact, Pollard rarely cares about the Wildcats’ opponents.
“We don’t worry too much about the other team,” Pollard said. “We are mainly concerned with our own preparation. This season, we have been preparing hard.”
After a full slate of competition this fall, NU will welcome the Blue Demons (2-1) to the new Combe Indoor Tennis Center today at 4 p.m.
Last year’s matchup between these two teams wasn’t much of a battle, as the Cats won 7-0. DePaul opened its season this weekend with wins over Chicago State and Eastern Illinois but lost to Michigan on Sunday.
No. 9 NU finds itself in the same position in which it finished the last two seasons – ranked behind No. 1 Stanford, which eliminated the Cats from the 2000 NCAA playoffs, and No. 7 Southern California, which beat the Cats in the round of 16 last year.
But with the Cats coming off their third straight Big Ten title, senior Lia Jackson is confident of NU’s chances this year.
“I think we are looking good,” said Jackson, who is ranked 55th nationally in singles. “Our depth is strong, and we are ready to take four in a row.”
The Cats will have to deal with the loss of graduated All-Big Ten selection Colleen Cheng, who anchored the No. 1 singles spot a year ago. Taking her place will be junior Marine Piriou, who finished the fall season with a 12-3 record. More impressively, Piriou was undefeated in Big Ten play last year with a 12-0 record.
Despite the loss of Cheng, Pollard feels optimistic about the makeup of this year’s team.
“Although it’s difficult to say exactly, we feel we have a good blend of experience this year,” Pollard said.
The Cats are expecting a boost from sophomore Jessica Rush, who has attained her first national ranking. Like Piriou, she went 12-0 in Big Ten singles competition last year, resulting in her current No. 95 ranking.
The Cats have three players ranked in the top 10 in the Midwest region. Piriou and Jackson own the top-two spots, while Rush stands at No. 6.
