Claire Pollard was way off.
The Northwestern women’s tennis coach had predicted a close match against Midwest rival Notre Dame, but the No. 16 Wildcats (3-2) overwhelmed the No. 21 Fighting Irish 7-0 on Thursday at the Combe Tennis Center.
“I predicted a 4-3 match either way,” Pollard said.
Instead, the Cats beat the Irish (2-1) at every singles position and won all three doubles matches. Pollard said the victory was important for her team after a disappointing loss to then-No. 21 Washington on Saturday.
“Playing Notre Dame was exactly what we needed.” Pollard said.
The Cats got strong performances from each player. In the doubles competition, NU’s No. 1 combination of junior Jessica Rush and freshman Cristelle Grier held off their Notre Dame opponents to win 8-6. Rush used three beautiful lobs to finish off the Notre Dame pair of Katie Cunha and Kristina Stastny.
“That’s one of my favorite shots to hit,” Rush said. “I learned it from Simona (Petrutiu), one of last year’s players.”
Also contributing a doubles win for the Cats were sophomore Kristi Roemer and freshman Jamie Peisel. Pollard said Roemer, who returned to action last week against Portland after missing December and November with a back injury, has better chemistry with Peisel than junior Stacy Kokx, Peisel’s partner in two previous matches.
“Peisel and Roemer seem to feed off each other,” Pollard said, “It’s nothing against Kokx, but I like that (pair) better.”
In the singles competition, each NU player won her match in straight sets. Grier, Peisel and sophomore Andrea Yung easily won their matches, with none dropping more than three games. At the Nos. 5 and 6 positions, junior Ruth Barnes and Kokx won with scores of 6-4, 6-1 and 6-4, 6-4. Kokx, in the regular line-up for the first time in two years, said she was not as nervous as she expected to be.
“It is more pressure, but it’s a good type of pressure,” Kokx said.
Rush had the closest match of the day. With the victory already clinched for the Cats and her teammates cheering her on from the sidelines, Rush struggled to put away Notre Dame’s Caylan Leslie, eventually closing out the match 6-3, 6-4. Rush said she had no trouble motivating herself to finishing off the match.
“You don’t want to have your teammates have to wait around all night watching you,” Rush explained, laughing.
The Cats will take on Furman and No. 5 North Carolina this weekend in Evanston. Rush said she and the team were looking forward to Sunday’s match against one of the nation’s top teams.
“It will be a great opportunity for us,” Rush said. “Their being ranked No. 5 is definitely an incentive.”
ND 0
NU 7
