Northwestern earns Senior Day win over Indiana

Northwestern's weekend match against Indiana marked its final appearance at the Combe Tennis Center this year.

Before the start of Sunday's match play, coach Claire Pollard gave a brief speech about each departing player's time with the program. Shortly after, the Wildcats (17-5, 8-1 Big Ten) defeated the Hoosiers (6-18, 0-10 Big Ten) in a 4-0 triumph.

The win completed NU's 11-0 home record this season, the program's most home wins in a season since 2017-18.

Pollard's team clinched the doubles point for the sixth game in a row, and like every game over the past two weeks, the group did so in dominant fashion. Pollard called the double point the “unsung hero” of the team’s recent success.

The No. 1 duo of graduate student Christina Hand and senior Justine Leong, ranked No. 57 in the country, defeated Saby Nihalani and Li Hsin Lin 6-1. The duo's chemistry has led them to lose just two games in their last four matches.

“When we play together, I know what she’s going to do before she does it and she knows what I’m going to do.” » Hand said in his Senior Spotlight on the team's Instagram page. “It’s sort of an unspoken thing.”

One court to their left, the No. 2 team of senior Maria Shusharina and graduate student Britany Lau clinched the doubles point for the 'Cats by winning 6-2. Shusharina and Lau have played their last three matches at number 3. The duo is now on a four-match winning streak.

Graduate student Elisa Van Meeteren — who hadn't played a doubles match in nearly two months — replaced freshman Neena Feldman in the lineup. She and junior Sydney Pratt led 5-3 in third place at the end of doubles.

The 'Cats opened singles play with two quick wins. No. 1 Shusharina won 6-1, 6-3, extending her winning streak to nine. After a short three-match stint at No. 4, Hand returned to No. 3 on Sunday and quickly won 6-2, 6-2.

“(Sydney had) a few losses in her last few matches, but Christina didn’t, so I felt like it was the right thing to go back,” Pollard said.

In his three matches in third place, Pratt went 1-2, while Hand was 3-0 in fourth place. Returning to his more familiar fourth place, Pratt was on pace to win 6-3, 5-4 at the end of the match.

The player who clinched victory for NU was none other than a senior playing her final career match at Combe Tennis Center – Leong. After dominating the first set 6-1, Leong found herself in a tense tie-break in the second set.

After initially leading the set 4-1, the senior found herself in a 5-2 hole against Elisabeth Dunac in the set tiebreak. She won three straight points to tie the score at 5-5.

Dunac double faulted, allowing Leong to serve for the match at 6-5. A 40-second rally then ensued, and Dunac attempted an inside-out forehand that flew away, giving Leong the critical victory 6-1, 7-6(5).

“(Leong) did a great job for us,” Pollard said. “(She) won a convincing first set, and I felt like she let (Dunac) in a little bit, but then she got in there, got more disciplined and was a little more aggressive . At 4-2 (in the tiebreak), I walked up there and said, 'Come on, you have to win this match.'

Leong's heroics – winning five straight points – capped off senior day with a victory for the 'Cats. Her doubles teammate Hand stormed onto the court and picked up Leong, embodying the love between teammates cultivated by playing doubles together for three seasons.

No. 5 Kiley Rabjohns was in the midst of a potential comeback when the match stopped. His score was 5-7, 6-0, 1-1. Across the Combe Tennis Center, No. 6 Lau was also in the middle of a third set after losing the second set. The match was unfinished 6-4, 2-6, 1-2.

NU will travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State on Friday afternoon. Currently, both teams are tied for second in the Big Ten with an 8-1 record.

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