By Brian ReganThe Daily Northwestern
Getting catcalls from teammates while talking to the press has become a reality for Northwestern’s top player, Georgia Rose.
After nursing various injuries last season, she has exploded on the national scene, ratcheting up 14 victories for the No. 9 Wildcats (13-4, 6-0 Big Ten).
And while her singles ranking has quietly risen to No. 11, that’s not her highest priority.
“I don’t really think about that too much,” Rose said. “I’m not that worried about numbers and how we are ranked as a team is much more important to me than my singles ranking.”
Until last Friday, the sophomore had a 10-match winning streak in singles, and while she lost that match, she and senior Alexis Prousis upset the nation’s No. 1 doubles team.
The Cats’ top tandem has moved up the collegiate rankings and is currently ranked 13th, thanks largely to the amount of time the two have spent together on the court.
“We’ve done a real good job,” Prousis said. “Georgia and I complement each other. She’s the steadier one and I’m the one who goes more for winners. We don’t have that many bad days and we play pretty consistent so the team can rely on us for a win.”
Luckily for the Cats, Rose’s success has not gone to her head – it might have made her even more humble.
“Georgia is the ultimate team player,” coach Claire Pollard said. “If you watch her in any match we’ve lost and she is still on the court, she’s sort of demotivated. I have to push her into paying more attention to her individual success and not shying away from it when her game attracts attention.”
Until last Friday’s defeat, the last time Rose lost was to the No. 1 player in the country and former NU standout Audra Cohen, who now holds the No. 1 spot at Miami.
Now Rose’s goal is to keep fine-tuning her game for the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments and to stay healthy and continue contributing to the team.
“I hated not being able to play in matches last year and I want to help the team in any way I can,” Rose said. “It’s been good for me to play in every match this year.”
She will have the opportunity to take on a challenge when the Cats (13-4) host No. 2 Notre Dame (21-1) today.
NU has lost to the Fighting Irish twice in the last two years in heart-breaking 4-3 close matches. The last time the two teams met was in February, in the semifinals of the National Indoor championships.
This weekend the team said it is looking to break that pattern.
“It was such a close match that we can’t forget about it,” Prousis said. “We want to come out on the winning side this time and will go with a little more fire since we know how crappy it felt to lose.”
In their final homestand of the season, Rose & Co. will put their best game on the court in what could be a preview of a late-round NCAA tournament match-up.
Without a streak to worry about or a highly ranked opponent to distract her, Rose said she will be more focused on how her play can help the Cats avenge their early season loss to the Irish.
“We’ve learned a lot in the past two months and I think we’ll be ready for them,” Rose said. “And there is a part of us that really wants to be beat them, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Reach Brian Regan at [email protected].
