On Feb. 20, 2011, Northwestern was dominated by Virginia, falling 4-0 in the consolation semifinal of the ITA National Indoor Team Championships.
“We were disgusted with ourselves afterwards,” coach Claire Pollard said.
Nearly a year later, in the first round of the exact same tournament, the Wildcats have a chance for redemption. Friday, No. 12 NU will take on No. 9 Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., its third consecutive opponent ranked in the top 10. Sophomore Nida Hamilton said that the team eagerly anticipates a rematch.
“When the draw came out, we were pretty excited,” she said. “They’re a good team but we know we have a chance.”
In last year’s match, the Cats held tight in doubles before then-senior Maria Mosolova and then-freshman Belinda Niu lost 8-6 to Lindsey Hardenbergh and Erin Vierra. Then, the bottom of NU’s singles lineup struggled mightily, dropping three straight-set matches.
This time, the Cats look to benefit from improved health, as they were without then-sophomore Brittany Wowchuk, who broke her hand leading up to the Virginia contest.
Niu noted that the team struggled to adjust following Wowchuk’s injury.
“It affected the matchup because everyone had to shift up a (singles) position,” she said. “Our mentality heading into the match wasn’t as strong as we wanted it to be.”
NU opened the season on a positive note despite suffering its first defeat at No. 3 Duke on Saturday. Doubles play, however, has emerged as a concern for the Cats, who have lost their last three doubles points.
After Pollard altered her doubles teams against Duke, she said she observed improvement, which she hopes will carry over to this coming weekend.
“I thought we looked a little more competitive on Saturday, ” she said. “I think we’ll get there.”
Pollard’s dramatic shakeup included separating the sixth-ranked duo in the nation, Hamilton and junior Linda Abu Mushrefova. Hamilton said that recovering in the doubles department as a team will be a key to preparing for the tournament.
“If we can get the doubles point, that would give us some initial confidence,” she said.
Pollard refused to label herself a “revenge kind of coach” but admitted that last year’s crushing defeat was probably fresh in the minds of her players. Niu agreed with the assessment.
“I think we’ll be fired up,” she said. “We’re heading into it still a little bit upset about last year. We obviously want to make up for that.”
NU succeeded at this tournament on several past occasions, highlighted by back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010. The Cats enter the tournament unseeded in a 16-team field with eight of the top 10 teams in the country, including Duke, but their primary focus is on getting past Virginia.
“We certainly respect them,” Pollard said, “and we look forward to this challenge.”
