Two weeks removed from Northwestern’s dominating performance in the Big Ten Tournament final, the Wildcats are still playing with championship swagger. NU earned a bid to the NCAA round of 16 with clean sweeps of Miami (OH) and Nebraska this weekend.
“In our performance against Michigan at the Big Tens we proved that we’re not only a good indoor team, but a good outdoor team as well,” said coach Claire Pollard of the Cats’ matchup against the Wolverines in the finals of the conference tournament. “This weekend you really saw a continuation of that sort of play. We’re just looking to get more confidence as the matches get tougher.”
No. 5 NU (23-6) did not appear to be lacking in confidence as it took on Miami (18-7) on Friday. The RedHawks put up a fight at doubles, nearly winning at the No. 1 spot, but the Cats secured big victories at No. 2 and No. 3 and dominated at singles. Pollard said she was more anxious heading into Saturday’s matchup against No. 37 Nebraska (22-6), who upset No. 22 Illinois on Friday for the program’s first NCAA win.
But the Cats proved too great a force at both doubles and singles, making quick work of the Huskers en route to earning their seventh consecutive bid to the round of 16.
“We’ve had a really tough schedule all season long, so we’re prepared for harder competition,” freshman Kate Turvy said. “These matches are less nerve wracking and more exciting, even with the single elimination, because we know we can take good teams.”
Though it was their first taste of NCAA tournament play, Turvy and fellow freshman Linda Mushrefova both posted steady and significant wins for NU over the weekend. Turvy and senior Samantha Murray cleaned up at No. 3 doubles, winning their matches both days to improve to 15-2 in dual matches this season.
Though Mushrefova and senior Lauren Lui did not finish either of their doubles matches-in the tournament format, a team needs to win only two of three doubles matches to win the doubles point-Mushrefova clinched singles points in both matches for NU at the No. 5 spot. Against Miami (OH), Mushrefova posted a 6-1, 6-3 win to mark the Cats’ second singles win of the day. She then battled for the win against Nebraska’s Janine Weinrich.
“Linda’s been stepping up all the time and now she again sealed the deal for us, back-to-back tournaments,” said Pollard, referencing Mushrefova’s deciding win against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament final. “Both of our freshmen played so well. But it’s only going to get tougher from here on out, so we’ll see how they handle it.”
The Cats resume play against No. 11 Miami (19-5) on Thursday in Athens, Ga. For two years in a row, NU has lost in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
“We’re just going into these matches really loose, knowing that we have nothing to lose,” Mushrefova said. “The matches are just going to get more difficult, but we are also just getting better every match.”
