April 25, 2007

Northwestern Women's Tennis Notes (2007 Big Ten Championship)
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern enters the 2007 Big Ten Championship three wins away from history. The 'Cats, who are ranked a season-high fifth in the latest ITA poll, are going for a record-tying ninth-straight Big Ten crown. The Wildcats face the winner of No. 8 seed Penn State and No. 9 Seed Michigan State at 10 a.m. Friday.

"We are going to take this tournament one match at a time and take the same approach we have taken all year," head coach Claire Pollard said.

With a 10-0 regular season, NU sealed its seventh Big Ten regular-season title in nine seasons and completed its third-straight undefeated season. The Wildcats closed 2007 as owners of a 37-match Big Ten regular season winning streak.

The 'Cats are 18-4 overall with three losses coming against top-10 opponents. Of the the Wildcats' 10 conference wins, six came via shutout.

Youth has been the key to the Wildcats' success in 2006-07. Sophomore Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) has excelled in the No. 1 singles spot while freshman Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) has been solid at No. 2.

Behind senior Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) at No. 3, freshman Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) and Suzie Matzenauer (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine), along with sophomores Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) and Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral), have anchored the bottom of the lineup.

Conference Perfection
Four Wildcats went undefeated in Big Ten play with Ghazal, Lui, Matzenauer and Rose posting unblemished records. Lui and Ghazal each went 10-0, Matzenauer went 6-0 and Rose went 5-0 in their conference matches.

Watch Out for "Sambo"
Murray, in typical Northwestern fashion for a freshman, is enjoying a stellar first season as a Wildcat. Playing mostly at No. 2, Murray is 14-8 in duals and 11-6 in the second spot. The freshman went 7-3 in Big Ten singles matches and finished the year playing No. 3 doubles with junior Alexis Conill (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons). The pair posted an 11-2 mark at No. 3.

We're Going Streaking
Ghazal and Lui own nine-match winning streaks heading into the Big Ten Championship. Both are 9-1 in their last 10 matches.

Matches will be held at Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center. For schedules, results and tournament information, visit Gophersports.com.

For Northwestern's probable starters and complete notes, click the .pdf link above.

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