By Jake SimpsonThe Daily Northwestern
After a grueling homestand, Northwestern hits the road to face two Big Ten foes this weekend.
The Wildcats (6-3, 1-0 Big Ten) begin their trip today at No. 24 Michigan. The Wolverines (3-2) are the Cats’ strongest competition in the Big Ten, with the dual an early-season battle for conference supremacy.
Coming off three duals against top 10 foes, however, NU is more than ready for Michigan. The Cats will be looking to bounce back after their 4-3 loss to then-No. 7 UNC last weekend.
“I thought we had a good week,” coach Claire Pollard said. “We worked on a lot of things both individually and collectively as a team.”
The following day, NU heads to State College, Pa., for its dual with Penn State.
NU is favored over the 3-4 Nittany Lions, but the dual is Penn State’s Big Ten opener, so the Cats must stay sharp to avoid the upset.
“We need to impose our game on them and force them to raise their level of play to meet ours,” Pollard said. “We can’t sneak up on anybody anymore.”
Without playing a single match, the team has already had a successful week. NU’s triumph came in the rankings, on both the team and individual level.
Despite posting a 1-2 record last week, the Cats retained their No. 6 ranking behind their 7-0 drubbing of then-No. 10 Baylor. NU’s strength of schedule also helped its ranking; the team has played top 15 opponents in seven of its nine duals.
While the team has been highly ranked all season, only freshman Lauren Lui was ranked individually. That changed Tuesday, as sophomore Georgia Rose – who on Tuesday was named Big Ten Player of the Week – and freshman Samantha Murray both cracked the top 20.
Rose, the team’s No. 1 player, rose to No. 13 in the national rankings. The sophomore’s only loss this season was to national No. 1 Audra Cohen.
All of Rose’s wins have been in straight sets.
Murray entered the rankings at No. 19 after carrying over her stellar preseason play into the dual season. The freshman has a 6-3 dual record, including a crucial upset of Miami’s then-No. 6 Laura Vallverdu at the National Indoor Championships. Overall, Murray’s record stands at 21-5.
Lui remained in the rankings at No. 78.
In doubles, NU’s top tandem of Rose and senior Alexis Prousis climbed to No. 7 nationally. The pair has a 6-1 dual mark, with two wins against top ten opponents. The Cats’ other tandems of sophomores Keri Robison and Nazlie Ghazal and freshmen Lui and Murray came in at No. 47 and No. 51, respectively.
Reach Jake Simpson at [email protected].
