Most women’s college tennis players would consider themselves unlucky to play Jessica Lehnhoff – the No. 1 player in the country – twice in the same season. But Northwestern’s Marine Piriou had to face her twice in one week, in both the team and individual NCAA championships.

In the Sweet 16 of the NCAA team competition Thursday, Lehnhoff beat Piriou 6-1, 6-1 to help the Gators eliminate the Wildcats with a 4-1 victory.

No. 33 Piriou drew Lehnhoff again in the second round of the individual tournament Tuesday. NU’s No. 1 player took a commanding 5-1 lead over the Florida senior in the first set. But Lehnhoff responded by winning 12 of the next 13 games, taking the match 7-5, 6-1.

Piriou advanced to the second round after a 6-0, 6-4 opening-round win over Alesya Ignatieva of Mississippi earlier in the day. A rain delay Monday forced the entire field to play the first two rounds Tuesday.

Piriou’s match with No. 67 Ignatieva marked her first career action in the NCAA singles tournament. The Lady Rebels senior, also in her first NCAA tournament, briefly took the lead in the second set, but Piriou closed out the match to advance to her second meeting with the third-seeded Lehnhoff.

Fresh off the No. 1 Gators’ 4-1 loss to Stanford in the finals of the team championships Sunday, Lehnhoff began her quest for an individual title with a three-set win over Oklahoma’s Anda Perianu in round one.

With the win over Piriou, Lehnhoff advanced to the Round of 16, where she will meet Alice Persu of North Carolina today.

“I felt ready. I just started slow because I am a little fatigued right now,” Lehnhoff said in a statement. “I just focused on the little things and tried to get it more to her backhand. I basically just stopped making errors and started playing smart.”

After an outstanding regular season in which she lost only one match in conference play and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, Piriou entered the singles tournament on a hot streak.

The junior had won four of her previous five matches in dual meets. Two of those wins came two weeks ago in NU’s NCAA regional victories, which earned the Cats their third straight Sweet 16 appearance.

Piriou finished the season with a 30-16 overall record.

The Cats placed two players in last season’s singles tournament, but neither Lia Jackson or Colleen Cheng advanced past the second round. Jackson lost in the first round, and Cheng fell in the second to Southern California’s Jewel Peterson.