When coach Claire Pollard scheduled nine top-20 teams in the Wildcats’ 2012 nonconference schedule, she hoped to prepare Northwestern for another conference title, a feat that would extend NU’s conference championship streak to 14.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s the attitude that we’ve taken with our nonconference scheduling,” she said. “You need to play the best in order to beat the best. We need to face the best competition in the nonconference so that we’re ready for whatever we see in the Big ok.”
The reasons NU has been able to win matches despite its shortcomings in doubles play is its success in singles matches. The Cats are led by junior Kate Turvy, who moved up to 11th in the Feb. 16 edition of the ITA rankings. Hamilton has also enjoyed success in singles. The sophomore has posted a 10-4 record on the year so far.
“There’s a lot of things that we can do better specific to our own games,” Hamilton said. “We need to get more balls in play and not give away free points in singles. Our opponents need to work for