The Wildcats said goodbye to memories of their past while witnessing the promise of their future this weekend as No. 3 Northwestern (20-2, 9-0 Big Ten) cruised to two wins against conference rivals Purdue (7-11, 4-3) and Illinois (11-8, 5-3). The wins clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship.
No. 3 freshman Audra Cohen tied and then broke the school’s single-season win record, while seniors Kristi Roemer and Andrea Yung and graduate student Valerie Vladea played their last regular-season home matches. Roemer, Yung and Vladea were honored and presented with flowers in between the doubles and singles matches on Sunday against Illinois.
“Their contribution to our program’s been enormous, not just this year but all the years,” said Pollard. “Now we attract the great recruits … they’re not only a part of it now, but they’re a part of why we got to this point. It’s a great tribute to them that now we’re considered one of the elite programs in the country.”
The three all marked the day with solid performances on the court, as the Cats swept their intrastate rival 7-0. Vladea did not drop a single game in defeating Brianna Knue 6-0, 6-0. Yung improved her perfect spring record to 10-0 with a straight set victory, and Roemer teamed with Alexis Prousis to win in doubles for the second straight day with an 8-6 victory against Macall Harkins and Knue.
The duo is trying to get back on track after struggling in its 8-7 (7-4) win against Purdue’s Hala Sufi and Brooke Beier, and losing its match against Notre Dame on Thursday.
“We’re just having a little bit of a transition playing outdoors,” Roemer said. “It’s been a little different with the wind, and being outdoors on slower courts … we need to focus on supporting each other and just having more fun out there.”
For Cohen, notching her spot in the record books did not come easily. She was challenged on Saturday by Sufi, who had Cohen down 5-4 and 6-5 in the first set before she came back to win a tie-breaker and the match 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 for her 40th win of the season. NU downed the Boilermakers 6-1.
She broke the record a day later against the Illini’s Cynthya Goulet, but rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the second set to do so. Goulet also broke Cohen when down 5-4, forcing Cohen to win another tiebreaker to seal the match 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).
“It’s good to come in as a freshman and establish myself pretty quickly,” Cohen said. “Its good to also have a history going into next year … the numbers will always have your back.”
The weekend also saw No. 16 Cristelle Grier and No. 66 Prousis win both of their matches against Illinois and Purdue. The two have now both won 13 straight singles matches.
Still, the best performance of the weekend may have come from the sixth spot, where Alexis Conill, having lost her last two matches against Notre Dame and Purdue, posted a long and gutsy 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) victory against Illinois’ Alejandra Cuadra. In addition to her Peruvian combatant, Conill also battled a rain delay and twisted her ankle twice in pulling off the win.
“She had to gut it out, which is part of being a great college tennis player,” Pollard said. “You don’t always play your greatest tennis, but you win a lot of matches by just competing really hard and fighting.”
NU finished its home schedule with a perfect Big Ten record and will look to seal the regular-season conference title next weekend at Ohio State. In spite of the accolades and fanfare, however, the Cats are hardly finished. There are still many goals on the plate, with the hopes of a national championship still looming.
“There’s a lot of season left to be played,” Pollard said. “We’re just getting started.”
Reach David Kalan at [email protected].
