Northwestern senior Kate Turvy on Wednesday will begin her march for the NCAA Singles Championship title. Senior Linda Abu Mushrefova and junior Nida Hamilton will begin their fight for the doubles title Thursday.
Coming off a controversial end to the team tournament, the three Wildcats have the motivation to advance far in their respective brackets.
Turvy lost in straight sets during her singles match in the team tournament. Mushrefova and Hamilton also fought a losing battle in their No. 1 doubles match Friday night.
Turvy will face off against Lauren Herring of Georgia, which is ranked No. 6 in the country in singles play.
Herring is coming off an unfinished match in the round of 16 and before that, a loss in her regional singles match. Turvy, on the other hand, is moving forward with a loss in the Sweet Sixteen but a win in her regional.
Mushrefova and Hamilton will take on the No. 2 doubles in the country, Sabrina Santamaria and Kaitlyn Christian from the University of Southern California.
Mushrefova and Hamilton will have a tough time with Santamaria and Christian on Thursday — the Trojans duo has only one loss on its record this season. On the other hand, Mushrefova and Hamilton will enter the match having lost their last doubles match and won their regional match in Evanston.
Something the Cats have over their opponents, however, is experience. This is Turvy’s second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles Tournament, and Mushrefova and Hamilton have taken on the upper-echelon competition together for three consecutive years.
Currently a sophomore, Herring was the SEC Freshman of the Year last year but was unable to make it to the Singles Championship.
Santamaria and Christian reached the Doubles Championship once before, but Hamilton and Mushrefova still have two years on their opponents.
Turvy’s match begins Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., and Mushrefova and Hamilton start Thursday at a to-be-announced time.
The Championships take place on the campus of University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
