Northwestern women’s tennis coach Claire Pollard doesn’t want her players to worry about their opponents. The Wildcats played with the same confidence and intensity in every match this year, and treated every team equally en route to winning their fifth straight Big Ten title.
So it was no surprise that all Pollard had to say about her team’s upcoming match against Kansas State was that both teams played in purple. She’s not trying to be clever — it’s just that NU prepares for each team the same way.
Pollard said she hopes her team’s consistent preparation will continue to translate into success as No. 16 NU takes on No. 45 Kansas State in the regional phase of the NCAA Championships on Saturday at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center.
NU will host the regional tournament, which also includes Illinois State and No. 9 Virginia Commonwealth. The winner of the four-team playoff will advance to the round of 16, which Florida will host this year in Gainesville.
Kansas State (15-7) comes to Evanston following a quarterfinal loss to No. 33 Texas in the Big 12 championships. Making its third appearance in the NCAA Championships, Kansas State is led by senior Petra Sedlmajerova and sophomore Maria Rosenberg, who have a combined record of 33-25 at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions. Kansas State has won seven of its last 10 matches, and its 13-7 record this year stands as the fourth-best in school history.
NU (19-8) is coming off its fifth consecutive Big Ten title after beating Minnesota 4-2 on April 27. NU’s Cristelle Grier, this year’s Big Ten Player of the Year, said her team was very excited entering the championship and was looking to carry over its success in the conference tournament into this weekend’s matches.
“We’ve come through a lot this year and played some really tough matches,” Grier said. “The older players on the team know what the Sweet 16 feels like. That’s going to drive us.”
Grier said NU’s practice this week was business as usual, with the team preparing for the NCAA Championships the same way it prepared for the Big Ten tournament. Grier said NU had not prepared a specific strategy for the match against Kansas State.
“We need to take care of ourselves and make sure we do the right things,” Grier said. “We’re going in with our own game plan.”
If NU beats Kansas State on Saturday, it will face either Illinois State or Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday in the regional final. Grier and Pollard said NU would not be intimidated should it end up playing No. 12 seed Virginia Commonwealth, who at 23-0 is the only undefeated team in the country.
“The fact that they’ve managed to win all of their matches perhaps indicates that they haven’t had a strong schedule,” Grier said. “Twenty-three and zero speaks for itself, and we will give them respect, but hopefully not too much.”
In last year’s NCAA tournament, NU advanced from the regionals held in Evanston, but fell to No. 1 Florida in the round of 16.
