Northwestern
Duke
'Cats Square Off With Duke in NCAA Round of 16 Thursday
5/15/2018 2:02:00 PM | Women's Tennis
| NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S TENNIS: GAME DAY INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | VIDEO | LIVE STATS |
| Thu., May 17 | Duke | 8 a.m. CT | Wake Forest Tennis Complex; Winston-Salem, N.C. |
WakeForestSports.com | WakeForestSports.com |
| Sat., May 19 | Texas or Texas Tech | 11 a.m. CT | Wake Forest Tennis Complex; Winston-Salem, N.C. |
WakeForestSports.com | WakeForestSports.com |
| Mon., May 21 | Semifinal | 11 a.m. CT | Wake Forest Tennis Complex; Winston-Salem, N.C. |
WakeForestSports.com | WakeForestSports.com |
| Tue., May 22 | Championship | Noon | Wake Forest Tennis Complex; Winston-Salem, N.C. |
NCAA.com | WakeForestSports.com |
| Social: Twitter (@NUWildcatTennis) | Instagram (@nuwildcattennis) | Facebook NCAA Tournament Central • NCAA Tournament Bracket • Northwestern Notes |
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern makes its return to the round of 16 of the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship on Thursday as it squares off against third-seeded Duke at 8 a.m. Central time in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The winner of the matchup advances to Saturday's quarterfinal round where it will face the winner of the contest between sixth-seeded Texas and 11th-seeded Texas Tech.
Seeded No. 14, Northwestern (23-5) is making its 14th appearance in the NCAA tournament round of 16 during Claire Pollard's 20 seasons as head coach, but the first since 2013. The Wildcats' best NCAA finish is reaching the quarterfinal round on five occasions (1986, 1987, 2006, 2008, 2009).
Since starting the season 3-3, Northwestern has won 20 of its last 22 matches. The Wildcats have winning streaks of eight and 10 matches this year. NU's 23 victories to date are the school's most since winning 23 in 2010. It's the team's 15th 20-win season under Pollard.
Northwestern advanced to Winston-Salem by taking care of business at home last weekend, cruising to matching 4-0 over wins over Buffalo and Kansas State.
NU has a 9-4 record against ranked opponents this season, including a perfect 3-0 mark against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of the matchup (No. 5 Georgia Tech, No. 5 Illinois, No. 7 Vanderbilt). Vanderbilt is the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament while Georgia Tech is seeded fourth.
NU has won the doubles point in 25 of its 28 matches this season. The only losses came against Washington, Georgia Tech and Illinois, all matches that the Wildcats came back to win. Northwestern's doubles teams have a 57-10 record (.851) in dual match play this season.
There are very few programs in the nation that Northwestern has struggled against historically, but Duke is one of them. The Blue Devils have won 19 of their 25 all-time meetings against the Wildcats. The teams last met during the 2017 season with Duke squeaking out a pair of 4-3 decisions in Durham. The Blue Devils won the first matchup Jan. 29 in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend regional final, taking the decisive match in a third-set tiebreak. NU returned to Durham Feb. 5 with Duke winning again by the same score.
The schools have met once before in the NCAA tournament with Duke winning a Round-of-16 matchup, 4-1, May 20, 2004 in Athens, Georgia.
Duke has a 25-3 record this season and advanced to Winston-Salem with a 4-0 win over Furman and a 4-2 victory over Oregon in Durham last weekend. The Blue Devils' lineup features five individuals who are nationally ranked in singles (Samantha Harris (6), Kelly Chen (28), Meible Chi (55), Ellyse Hamlin (84), Kaitlyn McCarthy (116)) as well as a pair of doubles teams in the top 10 (Harris/Chen (6), Hamlin/McCarthy (9)).
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