With runs to the Indoor Team Championship title in February and to its 11th consecutive Big Ten title last weekend, No. 1 Northwestern’s resume was nearly spotless.
After holding the top spot in the women’s tennis rankings for the entire season, it was not surprising that the Wildcats (25-1, 10-0 Big Ten) earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
While the Cats are excited to be the favorite heading into the tournament, they are still concentrating on hitting top form for the title run.
“I feel good, but I don’t really care what number is by us right now,” coach Claire Pollard said. “I would have been happy heading into the tournament no matter what number we were, because I have a great team, and that gives us a chance to win. It’s not the number that matters. It’s the team that’s going to win.”
The Cats have already beaten three of the tournament’s top-five seeds. NU beat No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Duke and No. 5 Notre Dame on its way to the Indoor Team Championship, although Duke later handed NU its only loss of the season.
Even though the Cats received the top seed a year ago, they were still happy to see that the selection committee recognized their hard work and success against the nation’s top teams.
“It was really nice to see we got the No. 1 seed,” junior Samantha Murray said. “I think we earned it throughout the year. Now, we want to live up to it. That’s our main goal.”
Last year, NU was upset by then-No. 8 California in the quarterfinals of the tournament, ending its hopes of a national championship. The Cats have qualified for 14 consecutive NCAA tournaments, but haven’t made it to the final four. If history wasn’t working against NU enough, no Big Ten team has ever won an NCAA championship.
Still, the team feels like the experience it gained last season has better prepared them for this year’s unprecedented title run.
“Last year, I feel like we were so excited we were ranked number one that we kind of forgot what our formula for success was,” sophomore Maria Mosolova said. “Not everything worked out perfectly in the tournament. We’ve learned from last year’s mistakes, and we have lots of confidence going in this year.”
As the Cats project ahead in the bracket, things look eerily familiar to last season. If the top-16 teams were to advance to the third round in College Station, Texas, NU’s path to a national championship would be almost identical to last season’s setup.
In the round of 16, NU would face No. 16 Fresno State, who they beat in last season’s sweet-sixteen matchup. NU would then advance to face No. 8 California in the quarterfinals. The Golden Bears halted the Cats’ title run last year with their 4-2 win in the quarterfinals.
Although the team is concentrating on its opening round match with Miami (OH) on May 8, the potential rematch with Cal is something NU players are looking forward to.
“If everything works out and we get to play Cal, it would be really exciting,” Mosolova said. “Because we lost to them last year, it’s almost like the feeling that we owe them one.”
