Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

48° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Cats bulldoze Badgers in opener

As the No. 1 team in the nation, Northwestern does many things well on the court.

Dating back to a time when most of the Wildcats were still in grade school, one of the things NU has done exceptionally well is dominating its own conference.

Winners of 10 consecutive Big Ten championships, the Cats (10-1, 1-0) kicked off their 2009 conference schedule with a demonstrative 7-0 victory over Wisconsin (5-7, 0-1) Wednesday at Madison. NU has not dropped a match to a Big Ten opponent since an April 4, 2004 match at Illinois.

For coach Claire Pollard, the beginning of the inter-conference season will give the Cats, whose last eight matchups have been against ranked opponents, some breathing room.

“I think, emotionally, it was nice not to be so up against the wall,” Pollard said. “It was a nice break from knowing that, unless absolutely we bring our very best, that we were going to be in trouble. We’ve had a lot of those over the last month. It’s nice to know that we’re fairly in control.”

Wednesday’s match was brief, clocking in at less than three hours, and NU won on all six singles courts in straight sets.

One of the benefits of a less brutal schedule is the ability for Pollard to rest certain players and allow the non-starters an opportunity to get on the court. On Wednesday, Pollard gave senior Georgia Rose a break from her typical role at No. 2 singles, slotting the rest of her starters one court up and placing freshman Stacey Lee at the sixth spot.

Lee made the most of the occasion, winning only the second dual match of her collegiate career, 6-3, 6-1, over Wisconsin’s Jessica Seyferth.

Rose, who played alongside junior Lauren Lui in the No. 1 doubles match, had dropped consecutive singles matches over the weekend against Duke and North Carolina. Still, Pollard said that Rose’s brief respite was nothing unusual given the opening of Big Ten play.

“It wasn’t so much giving Georgia the day off as I wanted Stacey to get some experience,” Pollard said. “I’ve been wanting to get her in there. It’s just been difficult recently and everyone is playing so well. We’re going to get Stacey and (freshman) Elena (Chernyakova) some more matches, and someone’s going to not play. It’s just going to rotate who that is.”

Businesslike in their efficiency, the rest of the squad lived up to its top ranking. Sophomore Maria Mosolova, now the No. 2 singles player in the nation after a couple of months at No. 1, defeated the Badgers’ Liz Carpenter with ease, 6-1, 6-1. The other Cats followed suit.

For the past several years, the Big Ten season has been a virtual feeding frenzy for the Cats due to the conference’s weakness relative to its southern and western counterparts. Still, NU is mindful to focus on each individual opponent, Pollard said.

“The reality is, we’ve just established ourselves as one of the premier programs in the nation,” she said. “We certainly take pride in being the best team in the Big Ten and want to keep that stature in place. But we know we have to go out and earn it every time.

“Everyone’s going to play their best match of the year against us, so we certainly can’t overlook anyone.”

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
Cats bulldoze Badgers in opener