After the most successful start to a season of the last decade, No. 44 Northwestern has been rewarded with a national ranking.
For coach Arvid Swan and the Wildcats, their ranking may not be a prize at all.
“Ranking doesn’t mean anything to me,” Swan said. “Ranking is out of our control, we’re just focusing on getting better as a team”
For senior Phil Kafka, this new ranking did not come as a shock.
“We approach every match with the intention of winning,” Kafka said. “So we’re not surprised to be where we are right now.”
Even looking past the rank of their first opponent this weekend, No. 7 Illinois, the Cats know that they have a very tough weekend ahead of them. The Fighting Illini (11-3, 1-0) and the Cats (11-2) come into the match with almost identical records, but thus far the teams have taken very different paths. The Illini have played one of the toughest schedules in the country, with their three losses coming to then-No. 5 Virginia, then-No. 8 Tennessee, and then-No. 4 UCLA.
“Illinois is a very good team, one of the best teams in the conference for the past seven or eight years,” Swan said. “We’re going have to come to play and compete hard and hopefully give ourselves a chance to win.”
After playing at Champaign, NU has very little down time, as it travels to Bloomington the next day to face Indiana. While Indiana (7-7) has gotten off to a rough start this year, they are a perennial Big Ten power, and they climbed as high as No. 31 in the country last year.
In order to emerge victorious this weekend, the Cats are also going to have to overcome their early struggles on the road. In four matches this season, NU has edged its opponents by a score of 14-13 record while posting a 2-2 record away from the comforts of the Combe Tennis Center.
“It’s going to take a supreme effort at every single position, singles and doubles, to beat both teams,” Swan said.
In addition to NU’s new ranking, senior Marc Dwyer picked up the first national ranking of his career this week. Now ranked 82nd in the country, Dwyer is 9-3 on the year. After starting the year 4-1, Dwyer compiled a five-game winning streak that was highlighted by a victory over then-No. 18 Brett Helgeson of Notre Dame. Still, Dwyer’s national ranking is the least of his worries.
“I just try and go out there and help the team stay in the match,” he said. “If I’m ranked that great, it’s a good achievement but it doesn’t mean much.”
Dwyer and the rest of the squad will face a tough test in Illinois, a team that boasts four ranked players. To make matters worse, last year the Illini swept the Cats, winning the six singles matches without losing a set.
These matches will certainly provide NU with a challenge, but it is one that junior captain Alex Sanborn is looking forward to.
“I feel like it is a great opportunity to come out and show the Big Ten what we’re made of,” Sanborn said. “It’s a good way to start the season.”
