Two weekends, five top-10 opponents and a trip down North Carolina’s famed Tobacco Road.
NU’s response? A collective yawn from the No. 12 Wildcats (5-2), who are coming off a successful run in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Indoor Championships, narrowly losing to No. 2 Vanderbilt on Feb. 7 but upsetting then-No. 7 Southern California and then-No. 9 Fresno State over the weekend.
The Cats’ schedule isn’t getting any easier, as they travel to North Carolina this weekend to square off against No. 4 Duke (5-1) and No. 10 North Carolina (5-1).
And the Cats couldn’t care less.
“I don’t really care about the other team, to tell you the truth,” NU coach Claire Pollard said. “I’m more concerned with preparing my own team as much as possible.”
Along with NU’s two-match winning streak, there are also some individual streaks at stake – good and bad.
Sophomore Jessica Rush, listed at No. 95 nationally, boasts an undefeated record in singles play this season, while senior Simona Petrutiu has won her last five.
But there are also a few bad streaks the Cats would like to snap, such as three-game losing streaks held by No. 2 singles Lia Jackson and No. 4 singles Andrea Yung.
Yung, however, sees greener pastures ahead.
“I have a better feel for how competitive college tennis is, and I know that I need to raise my game to the next level,” the freshman said. “As for the team, (last week) definitely brought our confidence level up since we played all top-10 teams. We’re tougher and know what to expect.”
Feeding off last week’s solid performance in Madison, Wis., will be key this weekend for NU.
Saturday, the Cats will be trying to settle an old score against the Tar Heels. NU lost a 4-3 decision to North Carolina last year in Evanston in a match that came down to a third-set tie-breaker.
When NU steps onto the court against Duke on Sunday, the two teams will have something in common. Both the Cats and the Blue Devils lost to Vanderbilt in last week’s ITA tournament. Duke was thoroughly outplayed by the Commodores, 4-1.
“I thought we had excellent preparation and gave Vanderbilt a good match,” Pollard said. “And Vandy hammered Duke, so that’s interesting.”
Though the Cats have the nation’s No. 9 singles player in junior Marine Piriou, the Blue Devils flash an even more potent weapon in No. 3 Kelly McCain.
As for the demanding schedule and the strength of the opponents, Pollard isn’t any more concerned than usual.
“There are no easy matches,” Pollard said. “We have to treat them and prepare for them all the same way.”
