After a two-week hiatus from competitive tennis, Northwestern attempted to resume play against the University of Denver last Thursday in Miami. The weather looked great when the team arrived on Mar. 19 and several NU players thought they could soak up some rays – weather unheard of during an Evanston March.

“It was fun to be there,” junior Willy Lock said. “We got to be in the sun for a little while.”

Unfortunately for their potential tans and their tennis match, Mother Nature had other plans.

Heavy rain and a lightning warning prompted the cancellation of the match against the Pioneers, who only had one date to play, and gave the Wildcats (8-6) another week of rest and practice before their match against Penn State this Friday.

“We were very disappointed,” Torricelli said. “It will be three weeks between matches for us.”

The Wildcats still managed to get in some outdoor practice time, but remained skeptical that they could reschedule a match with the Pioneers, who are coached by NU alum Geoff Young, in the near future.

The last action NU had was a road win on Mar. 6 against Arizona State, which four days later beat then-No. 21 Stanford.

“We’re counting on Arizona State to have a good spring,” Torricelli said. “We need to have more quality wins like that one.”

With only seven Big Ten matches left before the conference tournament, the Cats have entered the home stretch of their season.

The team’s only concern now is to stay healthy, which was eased by their three-week break from competition.

Torricelli said he hopes the break can help junior Matt Christian bounce back from an injury he suffered against Michigan on Feb. 24.

“It was great to have a break to get prepared for the final stretch of the season,” senior captain Adam Schaechterle said. “I think a lot of guys who needed rest got rest, which should help us.”

The team is looking for a strong finish to the season and to get some quality wins under its belt to help their case with the NCAA selection committee, with the hope of getting off the tournament bubble.

“Last year we lost a very tough match to Indiana and I thought we could kiss the NCAA tournament good-bye,” Torricelli said. “But we turned around and beat Penn State and later upset Ohio State, so I think we need to hang in there.”

Reach Brian Regan at [email protected].