The toughest opponent standing in the way of the Northwesternwomen’s tennis team’s quest for a fifth straight Big Tenchampionship won’t be wearing a skirt and tennis shoes.
Instead, NU’s most difficult obstacle will be the pressure ofits own expectations.
In the past four years, No. 19 NU has dominated the rest of theBig Ten, posting a 36-4 record en route to four consecutiveconference championships. Such phenomenal success has raised thebar high for the Cats — something NU coach Claire Pollard knowscan be dangerous for a young team.
“It’s so important with such a young team that they don’t go inthere and let people talk to them about being defending champs andgetting caught up in all that,” Pollard said. “All we can do is ourvery best.”
Pollard said she has attempted to keep the pressure off the Cats(18-6, 8-2 Big Ten) by keeping practices light this week and notmentioning the tournament to her players.
After receiving a first-round bye, the No. 2-seeded Cats willtake on the No. 7 Wolverines today at the Atkins Tennis Center inChampaign, in a rematch of last Sunday when NU soundly defeatedMichigan 6-1.
Michigan (12-8, 5-5) defeated 10th-seeded Indiana 4-2 in thefirst round on Thursday.
Pollard said her approach to today’s match against Michiganwould be similar to last weekend, but cautioned the Cats againstoverlooking a Wolverines team that was beaten easily by NU only afew days ago.
“It’s as easy to lose to the first team as it is to beat thelast team,” Pollard said. “Anyone can beat anyone else.”
For NU, this year’s tournament represents a chance to reclaimits position at the top of the Big Ten. The Cats’ 29-gameconference winning streak was snapped by Minnesota on April 6, andfor the first time since 1998, the Cats did not finish first in theBig Ten regular-season standings.
Despite their second-place finish this year, NU — and the restof the Big Ten — knows it is still the team to beat and is eagerto prove conference losses against Minnesota and Ohio State wereaberrations.
Although Pollard said she hopes her team would not place specialsignificance on potential matches with the two teams, it’s clearthat wins over the Gophers and Buckeyes would be especially sweetfor the Cats. With No. 1 Minnesota in the other bracket, it ispossible that a Minnesota-NU match up on Sunday could determinethis year’s champion.
Despite their youth and relative inexperience in tournamentplay, the Cats are brimming with confidence going into thisweekend’s matches. Junior Jessica Rush, the Cats’ most experiencedplayer, said the team’s attitude was very positive and it was readyand excited for the tournament.
“I love that we’re the top team in the Big Ten,” Rush said, “Ijust want to go out and show the other teams that they better playtheir best to beat us.”
