There are few places harder on a student athlete than Northwestern and Notre Dame. But entering Wednesday’s top-25 showdown, these two schools are on top of the women’s tennis game.
No. 1 NU (19-1) and No. 20 Notre Dame (16-7) have shown no signs of pressure, as the two teams have dominated the Midwest region for over a decade. NU and Notre Dame will face off in South Bend, Ind. Wednesday in what is expected to be one of the best matches of the season. It is a match that the Wildcats are definitely looking forward to.
“I expect a war,” NU coach Claire Pollard said. “They are really good and we have always had great matches with them. We have been No. 1 and No. 2 in the region for the last few years and I know they would like nothing more than to make their season with a win over us. So we will certainly be ready for them.”
NU began its current streak of nine consecutive Big Ten titles in 1998. This season, the Cats have been the nation’s top team for six consecutive weeks. The team has enjoyed a 13-dual match winning streak, prevailing over tennis powers like Georgia Tech, Baylor and Texas. Five of NU’s players have ranked in the top 50 in the country.
During the same time period, Notre Dame has won five Big East titles while finishing runner-up the other four years. The Fighting Irish have had a nine dual-match winning streak of their own, thanks in part to the top-ranked doubles team of senior Brook Buck and junior Kelcy Tefft.
“There has always been a big rivalry between Notre Dame and us, so it will definitely be a good match and tough,” sophomore Lauren Lui said.
Although the Cats have won six of their last seven matches against the Fighting Irish, they have struggled to defeat the duo of Buck and Tefft. On two occasions, NU has been close to knocking them off but has failed to do so.
At the ITA Midwest Regionals on October 22, two NU doubles teams faced off against Buck and Tefft. Each time Notre Dame tamed the Cats.
In a quarterfinal match, Buck and Tefft defeated NU juniors Nazlie Ghazal and Keri Robison, 8-6. And freshman Maria Mosolova and senior Alexis Conill failed to put away the top-ranked doubles team 9-7 after three match points.
But Mosolova said she has confidence the Cats will prevail this time around.
“I think we have a really high chance of winning,” Mosolova said. “In October, both of the matches were really close, so I believe we have a really good chance of winning the doubles point.”
Even if Notre Dame is able to capture the doubles point, they will still need a few breaks to hold off NU in its singles’ matches to win the dual.
Notre Dame is the only top-20 team left on NU’s schedule and may be the Cats’ last big test before the NCAA tournament. But as Coach Pollard put it, Notre Dame – or any other team – will not be the judge of how NU will fare at NCAAs.
“Our performance over the years speaks volumes on how we are going to do in the tournament,” Pollard said.
