Northwestern finished its season with 20 wins and nine losses, winning the Big Ten Tournament for the 14th time in 15 seasons.
The champs overcame Indiana, Nebraska and Michigan in the conference playoffs to earn the crown. In the regular conference season, the Cats lost only to the Cornhuskers and Wolverines, so they sought — and found — redemption in the tournament.
When the NCAA Tournament came around, the team hosted one of 16 regionals across the nation. The Cats reached the round of 16 but lost on a controversial line call against the University of Miami. After the end of the team tournament, senior Linda Abu Mushrefova and junior Nida Hamilton went on to play in the doubles championship tournament, and senior Kate Turvy represented NU in the singles championship tournament.
Turvy finished the season ranked No. 57 in the nation for singles play. She went 14-10 in singles matches over the season. In the early part of the year, Turvy lost seven matches in a row, but after the seventh straight loss, the senior went on an 11-2 streak to finish out the season. When Turvy entered the singles championship tournament, she faced Lauren Herring, the No. 6 singles player in the country.
Mushrefova and Hamilton carried the doubles part of the NU team. Ranked No. 42 nationally, the duo went 13-13 , with four unfinished matches. The two competed in the NCAA Doubles Championship tournament at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign but came up short against the University of Southern California doubles team, ranked No. 2.
