Northwestern didn’t drop a set in a comprehensive 7-0 routing of Big East outfit Butler in its season opener at Combe Tennis Center Saturday afternoon.
Four of the Wildcats’ (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) six singles starters were either freshmen or sophomores, and three had never played a dual season match before. Yet coach Claire Pollard’s young team hit the ground running, wrapping up Saturday’s win in under two hours.
NU stormed to victory in the doubles point, with its No. 2 pairing — freshman Erica Jessel and senior Sydney Pratt — and No. 3 pairing — freshman Maia Loureiro and sophomore Neena Feldman — each winning 6-0.
Pollard told The Daily last weekend she did “not have a clue what to do in doubles yet,” but the success of her partnerships against Butler suggest she might have found the ingredients of a winning formula. The No. 1 pairing of graduate student Britany Lau and freshman Mika Dagan Fruchtman, who fell one win short of qualifying for the 2024 NCAA Doubles Tournament together in the fall, held a 3-2 break lead when their match was abandoned.
“I’ll be honest, I love it,” Dagan Fruchtman said of seeing her teammates wrap up doubles victories before herself and Lau. “Obviously, I would love to get the win, but if they’re winning, I don’t mind.”
The ’Cats continued their momentum in singles, wrapping up five of six first sets by 5 p.m. — just an hour after the first serve of the doubles point. Only Dagan Fruchtman dropped more than one game in the first set, and she reeled off four straight games to win 6-3.
Pratt was the first to finish, winning 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 6 spot. The senior played over half of her matches at No. 4 last season, but faces stiff competition in the lineup with two freshmen — Dagan Fruchtman and Jessel — sliding in at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.
“If we could keep her at six and feel good about every other spot, I’d feel very, very good,” Pollard said of Pratt. “I think she’d be rivaling up there with some of the best sixes in the country.”
Jessel provided NU with its third victory of the day, turning a strong display of serving and first-strike tennis into a 6-1, 6-4 win. Jessel said she was surprised at being placed at the No. 2 spot, which motivated her to repay the coaching staff’s faith.
“The coaches — all three of them — have always had belief in me, and that’s just something that’s always kept me going,” Jessel said.
Feldman clinched a victory for the ’Cats with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 4, while Lau also only dropped two games en route to a 6-0, 6-2 result at No. 3.
At the No. 5 spot, sophomore Autumn Rabjohns entered the lineup for her first career dual season match after sitting out last year. After cruising through the first set, Rabjohns faced stern resistance in the second but broke at 5-4 after failing to serve out the match in the previous game — she won 6-1, 6-4.
Pollard said Rabjohns’ three singles wins in the previous weekend of exhibition matches, as well as her work ethic over the winter holiday break, played a major role in her inclusion in the lineup.
“As soon as they were done with finals, we were allowed to start working with them again. And she was here all the time, getting better,” Pollard said of the Lake Forest, Illinois, native.
Pollard said senior Kiley Rabjohns missed out on Saturday’s clash with an injury, and did not offer a timeline for her return.
“We’re hoping to have her available as soon as possible,” Pollard said.
Dagan Fruchtman claimed the team’s seventh and final win of the day, winning 6-3, 6-3.
The ’Cats will travel to Champaign Saturday to face Illinois. As other teams across the country compete to qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, Northwestern and Illinois — the two hosts of that tournament — will play a match that does not count for their conference records. Pollard said she will spend the next week focusing on consistency.
“When you play Illinois, you will hit a lot of balls,” Pollard said. “As long as we can make a lot of balls, I feel really good. But if you don’t go there and make a lot of balls, it’s a really long day.”
Dagan Fruchtman, meanwhile, said the team was excited to play in a high-pressure match.
“We’re gonna crush them,” she said.
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