Nov. 25, 2007

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern did not receive an at-large berth into the 2007 NCAA Tournament during Sunday night's selection show, ending the Wildcats' season with an 18-13 record.

The Wildcats became the first program in seven years in the perennially powerful Big Ten (ranked No. 2 among conferences this year according to the RKPI at RichKern.com) to finish the season at least five matches over .500 but not receive a bid. The Big Ten has been either the No. 1 or No. 2 conference in the nation in each of the last six years.

The Big Ten was so strong from top to bottom in 2007, Northwestern entered the final weekend with a chance to finish third in the standings. With a split of its matches, NU ended up in seventh place, one match out of a two-way tie for fifth.

Northwestern made a serious run at an at-large bid, going 8-4 over the final 12 matches of the season including wins against No. 13 Minnesota and No. 20 Michigan. The Wildcats had an out-of-conference tilt against Mountain West champ UNLV along with wins over 2006 NCAA Tournament teams Saint Louis and UC Santa Barbara during the season.

The NCAA committee's decision puts an end to the careers of a quartet of seniors, all of whom made massive dents on the Northwestern record books. A more comprehensive look back on the 2007 season and the accomplishments of seniors Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire), Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier), Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) and Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) will appear on NUsports.com in the near future.