The Northwestern women’s tennis team will be attempting to exit on a high note starting today and Saturday at the ITA National Indoor Championships at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., and at the Badger Blast in Madison, Wis.
The Wildcats will send two players to the ITA National Indoor Championships and seven to the Badger Blast. Both tournaments will mark the end of the fall season for NU.
In order to compete in the ITA National Indoor Championships, players must qualify through earlier ITA events in the season. NU teammates sophomore Cristelle Grier and senior Jessica Rush qualified by virtue of their strong showing at the ITA Midwest Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Oct. 23-28.
“This is one of the bigger tournaments of the fall season,” Coach Claire Pollard said. “But we try not to treat any tournament different from another, so we don’t have highs and lows.”
NU will look to carry the momentum it gained at the ITA Midwest Championships to its events this weekend. Grier picked up her second ITA Midwest singles crown at the tournament and also teamed up with Rush for a doubles championship as well.
No. 4 Grier rolled through the singles field last week, never once dropping a set in her six matches. In the championship on Oct. 28, she easily defeated Alicia Salas of Notre Dame 6-2, 6-2.
The No. 6 ranked Grier-Rush doubles team also pounded its opposition at the tournament. The pair never allowed more than five games in each of their six matches and defeated Illinois’ Cynthia Goulet and Jennifer McGaffigan 8-3 for the doubles title.
“It is really a building process from last week (at the ITA Midwest Championships) to this week,” Pollard said. “We have taken some time off after the long week in Kalamazoo, and now this week will be another opportunity to play against the top teams in the nation.”
Grier and Rush will again be players to watch. When the seedings were released on Wednesday for the ITA National Indoor Championships, Grier was seeded No. 3 in the singles field of 32. The doubles team of Grier and Rush was seeded No. 2.
But Pollard is staying reserved on who the favorites in the tournament are.
“We try not to worry about anyone but ourselves,” Pollard said. “All we can control is how we do.”
While Grier and Rush are in Michigan, the rest of the team will be competing at the Badger Blast, which was a last-minute replacement event due to the cancellation of the Minnesota Invitational. The event will allow part of the team to get an early look at some of their Big Ten competition. The Cats take on Iowa Saturday and Wisconsin on Sunday.
