It’s that time of year.

The weather’s finally getting warmer, lacrosse is No. 1, and no one is happy with the Dillo Day lineup (who is Ted Leo anyway?).

It’s time for the women’s tennis team to disappoint us again.

At least that’s what history tells us.

Each of the past three seasons, Northwestern has cruised into the NCAA quarterfinals. They were ranked in the top 11 in all three years, including No. 5 last season.

And each time, the Wildcats found a different way to lose.

The Cats have come in confident and left humiliated. Last year, NU was shown the door 4-0 by No. 12 UCLA, failing to win a single match in the upset loss.

They have come oh-so-close before being knocked out. In 2006, then-freshman Nazlie Ghazal lost a hard-fought deciding match in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to No. 3 USC.

This year, Claire Pollard’s squad comes into the quarterfinals as the overwhelming favorite to win its first NCAA title. NU is the No. 1 seed, boasts a 29-1 record, and is riding a 23-match winning streak.

On paper, the Cats are the team to beat. But given its track record of coming up short and a quarterfinal matchup with another Pac 10 foe, No. 8 California, NU is surely just setting us up for another early exit.

Except…

Except the Cats have played their best under pressure this season. A 4-1 thrashing of then-No. 1 Georgia Tech and five 4-0 sweeps in the postseason have shown that this NU team loves the spotlight. Don’t expect them to blink in the big moments.

Except the team is full of sophomores and juniors who remember what it feels like to lose. Ghazal and fellow junior Georgia Rose will not let their teammates let up for even a point. Don’t expect them to take any team lightly.

Except this year, NU has a passion and intensity that wasn’t there before. The Cats don’t just beat teams, they destroy them. They have the intangible qualities that can’t really be explained, the qualities that are found in all championship teams.

“They compete better than any team I’ve ever had,” Pollard said after a 7-0 dusting of Michigan State on Senior Day. “They like the big moments. The big moments bring out the best in them, and there’s nothing bigger than the NCAAs. I think we’ll be at our best in those moments.”

Don’t expect them to lose.

Instead, stay tuned for the program’s first happy ending.

Sports editor Jake Simpson is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected].