A decade ago, Northwestern was ranked 42nd and hadn’t won a Big Ten championship in 13 years.
Now, the Wildcats are the No. 1 team in the nation and the top seed in the NCAA tournament. They have taken 63 straight conference matches, dating back to April 2004. They have won a record-breaking 10 consecutive Big Ten titles, and finished this year’s dual season with a best-ever 26-1 record.
Behind this unparalleled success is head coach Claire Pollard. During her 10-year reign, Pollard has turned NU into a dominant program.
A native of Surrey, England, Pollard was an accomplished player. But there weren’t opportunities to combine education and athletics at an advanced level in England. So following the advice of a friend who played at Mississippi State, Pollard packed her bags and headed to the U.S.
Pollard joined the women’s team at Mississippi State and experienced immense success. In 1989, she won the NCAA Doubles Championship and both the Southeastern Conference Indoor and Outdoor Doubles Championships.
Pollard was named an All-American and Academic All-American, as well as Mississippi State’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1989. She also played in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open Championships.
She also excelled in the classroom, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in fitness management and later earning a masters in sports administration.
“I wanted originally to be a P.E. teacher because I really liked sports,” Pollard said. “And I sort of always had a knack for teaching – I’m fairly patient. But by my junior year, I thought it would be more fun to be a college coach and be more involved in tennis exclusively.”
After completing her degree, she stayed at Mississippi State for almost two years as head coach, where she coached some of her former teammates and compiled an 11-10 record.
She briefly returned to England, but when the opportunity came to coach both the men’s and women’s team at Lamar University, she headed back to the States.
After four years at Lamar, Pollard took on the head coaching job at NU in 1998. She was left with a talented yet underachieving squad who consistently placed second or third in the Big Ten, but was never able to win the conference.
“They were in the middle of the pack,” Pollard said. “I think they felt like they underachieved before I came…. I didn’t try to fix them, but I just said, ‘Hey, this is the way I’m going to do things, hopefully you’ll buy in.’ Fortunately they really did.”
Ten years and 10 Big Ten titles later, the Cats are now one of the most dominating tennis programs in the NCAA. Under Pollard, the Cats boast a 128-6 record against conference opponents. In April, Pollard earned her fourth Big Ten Coach of the Year award after NU posted its fourth-consecutive 10-0 conference record.
Much of her success lies with her recruiting and pushing her players to become their best. Under Pollard, seven players have been named Big Ten Player of the Year, and for four consecutive years, one of her players has won Freshman of the Year for the conference.
“She’s done a great job in getting the right players in helping the program improve,” junior Georgia Rose said. “I’m so glad we’ve got the No. 1 ranking. It really shows what a great coach she is and what a great program she’s made. We owe almost all our success to her and what she has done to help us.”
When Pollard looks for players, she said she doesn’t just look for talent, but for an aspiration to improve. She noted some girls have been playing for so long they think they have reached their potential.
“I think you’d be shocked at how many players are content to be just OK, and that doesn’t cut it around our program,” Pollard said. “If you want to just be OK, this isn’t the right program for you – you’re not going to enjoy me, or the program. I’m very up front about that in the recruiting process.”
Not only is Pollard able to recruit the best players around the world, but she is also still able to push them to improve. Freshman Maria Mosolova, ranked No. 4 in the nation, said Pollard immediately noticed how emotional she was on the courts, and took action to fix it. Pollard told Mosolova that if she ever saw her throw her racket again, the whole team would run the next morning.
Pollard’s players praised her dedication and coaching philosophy. Lauren Lui said while she is typically a quiet and reserved player, Pollard has encouraged her to be more vocal and emotional. It has paid off, as Lui was named to the All-Big Ten team this year.
“I trust her in what she is telling me,” Lui said. “I really think she’s instilled a hard work ethic, day in and day out. She’s always told us every day in practice we have to work on getting better, and if you’re not having a great day, you’ll support your teammates and somehow make them better.”
Pollard’s players turn to her off the courts as well. She often organizes team dinners for her players, Lui said, and is willing to talk with them about anything.
“It’s just clear that she’d be there for us if we needed her,” Rose said. “She cares a lot about us as people, as well as tennis players, which is really great and we appreciate a lot…. Everything she teaches can be applied off the court too.”
As the Cats begin their quest to win their first NCAA championship, they know they have a fearless leader to guide them.
