It seems that life never gets easy for the Wildcats. After winning their last seven matches, No. 4 Northwestern gets another test before it can relax.

The Cats go on the road to face No. 18 Harvard today at 1 p.m. For NU (10-1), the Crimson present a challenge before the Big Ten season.

Harvard will attempt to counter NU’s top three singles players, No. 1 Audra Cohen, No. 13 Cristelle Grier and Alexis Prousis, with its own trio of successful players. Harvard features No. 40 Courtney Bergman, Elsa O’Riain and Susanna Lingman.

Bergman and O’Riain are also partners on the No. 22 doubles team in the country.

Harvard is 6-2 on the year, having barely lost its most recent match to No. 16 Clemson, 4-3.

NU comes off a strong showing against Texas on Sunday. Against the Longhorns, NU’s top four players, Cohen, Grier, Prousis and Valerie Vladea, all won their matches in straight sets.

Cohen has won her last seven matches in straight sets and has a 33-2 record this year.

She is seven victories shy of tying the school record for most wins in a season. Her doubles partner, Grier, is the current record holder with 40 wins in 2004.

The Cats are trying to win their fourth-straight match against a top-20 opponent and eighth straight overall.

NU has played eight of its 11 matches this season against schools that are ranked in the top 25. The Cats have responded strongly with seven wins in those eight matches.

The lone loss came against No. 3 Georgia at the ITA Indoor Team Championships in February.

NU hopes to continue its winning trend against the Crimson before an 18-day break.

The Cats will not play again until they travel to No. 17 California for a match on March 22.

Reach David Kalan at [email protected].