COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Maryland women's tennis team will face a pair of ranked foes this weekend, traveling to Northwestern for a Friday showdown against the Wildcats before returning home to host Illinois on Sunday afternoon. Both squads will enter the weekend ranked in the ITA Tennis Division I Poll, with Northwestern coming in at No. 24 and Illinois at No. 36. 

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

Northwestern enters Friday's showdown with Maryland coming off a Wednesday matinee at Rutgers that saw the Wildcats win, 7-0. It was Northwestern's 10th victory of the season and its fifth in Big Ten play. The Wildcats are a perfect 5-0 in conference action this season, with wins over Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Rutgers. 

They have also faced a challenging slate this winter, squaring off with seven ranked foes in non-conference action. 

Freshman Clarissa Hand is ranked No. 29 in the latest ITA singles rankings. She is 7-8 at the No. 1 position for the Wildcats with four ranked wins. Julie Byrne owns a team-best nine singles win in the dual season, all of which have come at the No. 2 spot.
 
Lee Or and Hand are currently ranked No. 47 in the latest ITA doubles rankings. The duo is 8-5 this season and 3-2 against ranked opponents.

SCOUTING THE ILLINI

Illinois comes into this weekend's action with an overall record of 6-9. Like Northwestern, the Illini will meet Rutgers before battling with the Terrapins later in the weekend. The Illini enter the weekend having lost their last two contests, falling to non-conference foes Texas and UCF. 

Illinois has posted a 1-2 record in conference play to this point, losing to Northwestern and Indiana before picking up its first conference win against Purdue. 

Asuka Kawai will lead the Illini in singles play, coming into the week ranked No. 52 in the ITA Division I Poll. She is 7-7 at the top spot of Illinois' singles lineup, with a 2-1 mark in conference action. Kawai will partner with Mia Rabinowitz in doubles action, where the pair have an impressive 10-5 record on the season between the second and third doubles positions. Most of their action has come in the third doubles slot, where the two are 9-3 on the year. 

MARYLAND BY THE NUMBERS

2 - doubles victories for top tandem Eva Alexandrova and Millie Stretton in conference play. The two picked up victories in Maryland's matches against Rutgers and Minnesota. 

4 - total matches against ranked opponents this season, meeting No. 24 Illinois, No. 36 Northwestern, No. 38 Columbia and No. 48 Princeton. 

5 - team-high singles victories for Millie Stretton and Zoe Kulkarni. Stretton has tallied her five victories between the second and third singles spots, while Kulkarni has taken wins at the fifth and sixth singles slots. 

20 - total singles victories between five players on the Maryland roster. After Stretton and Kulkarni's team-best five wins, sophomore Eva Alexandrova has tallied four in the top singles spot. 
 

AN EXPERIENCED BUNCH

All eight players on Maryland's roster have at least one season of collegiate tennis under their belt. The roster also includes seven returners from the 2018 squad, with the lone addition being Kansas transfer Amber Policare. 

The Terps will be guided by a pair of seniors: Arnelle Sullivan and Millie Stretton. Sullivan is entering her fourth season in College Park, while Stretton will compete in her second season as a Terrapin after transferring from Kansas State. 

ACADEMIC ACCOLADES 

The Terps were successful in the classroom last season, with three current members of the squad earning 2018 ITA All-American honors. 

Eva Alexandrova, Millie Stretton and Saya Usui represented the Terrapins on the list, which includes student-athletes who are varsity letter-winners and have a GPA of at least 3.5. 

UP NEXT

Maryland will hit the road for a pair of conference road matches at Nebraska and Iowa on April 5th and 7th, respectively.