The road to being a champion is not straight; there are humps along the way. It is how you overcome these that makes true champions.
Northwestern’s hump has been in the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats have won a record nine straight Big Ten championships, but in the NCAA tournament NU has not fared as well. The Cats have yet to advance past the quarterfinal round, but there are reasons to believe that this might be the year it all changes.
Three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Claire Pollard believes it is her team’s time to take that next step.
“I believe that this is the closest team that I have ever coached to getting over the hump at the NCAA tournament,” Pollard said. “One of the dangers that you can have with a program that has had a lot of success is that you can get conformable with the position you are at, but I think it is very imperative that everyone plays a critical role and not just rely on a couple of players at the top. It is critical that everyone understands that they are crucial to our success. I am optimistic and proud of the success that we had in the fall and hopefully we can continue that.”
If the Cats are going to make it far, one of the most important factors is depth. The release of the first ITA national rankings revealed how much depth the Cats really have.
As a team, NU is ranked No. 7 in the nation and the only Big Ten team in the top 20. Freshman Maria Mosolova is ranked as the No. 2 singles player. Mosolova only lost three matches the entire first half of the season as she recorded a 13-2 singles record and 12-1 doubles record for the Cats.
NU junior Georgia Rose and sophomore Samantha Murray had a great first half, as well. Rose, the defending Big Ten Player of the Year, is ranked No. 9 because of her stellar 15-4 singles record and 5-1 doubles record during the fall. Murray is ranked No. 20.
Murray, along with sophomore Lauren Lui, team up to make the No. 7 doubles team in the country. The Cats’ doubles teams of Nazlie Ghazai and Suzie Matzenauer and Keri Robison and Alexis Conill are also ranked in the top 50. In all, every player on NU is ranked in either single or doubles.
Although the Cats realize the importance of their individual success, they said their biggest strength is that they have not forgotten what a team is all about.
“I believe our biggest strength is supporting each other. Everyone on the team is friends and I believe it helps us a lot,” Mosolova said.
The quest to become a champion started along time ago but the second half of the story will be written as the Cats kick off their spring season with the Wildcat Invitational beginning today at Combe Tennis Center as NU plays host to DePaul, Western Michigan, and Utah.
Reach Cleyana Mayweather at [email protected].
