{"id":75169,"date":"2019-01-29T14:59:21","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T20:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=75169"},"modified":"2019-01-29T15:41:41","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T21:41:41","slug":"freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/","title":{"rendered":"Northwestern freshman Clarissa Hand ready for challenge of leading Wildcats"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Neel Madhavan<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

When freshman Clarissa Hand arrived in Evanston in the fall, she didn\u2019t quite know where she\u2019d fit into Northwestern University\u2019s tennis lineup.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the winter\/spring dual-match season, and Hand is leading the Wildcats at the No. 1 singles and doubles positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot to ask of a freshman,\u201d head coach Claire Pollard said. \u201cShe\u2019s got a lot to learn, but I think we\u2019re going to have a lot of fun watching her grow over the four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pollard said Hand\u2019s play against other top players during invitationals and tournaments during the fall season earned her the spot at the top of the lineup. Her results included advancing to the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional and a win over the seventh-best player in the NCAA two weeks ago at the Miami Spring Invite.<\/p>\n

\u201cResults matter,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cThe results are there, so it was a pretty simple decision. I think our whole team would agree that right now, she\u2019s our best player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hand said she\u2019s ready for the challenge of playing in the No. 1 position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to do well at No. 1, but I know that every opponent that I\u2019m going to play is going to be really tough,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Clarissa-Hand-2\"<\/a>
Northwestern freshman Clarissa Hand hits a forehand return in a doubles match against UIC on Jan. 18 at Combe Tennis Center in Evanston. (Neel Madhavan\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before joining the Wildcats, Hand was a 5-star recruit from Moorestown, New Jersey. Some of the top women\u2019s tennis programs in the country wanted her, including Notre Dame, Virginia, Wake Forest, Stanford, UCLA and North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, she knew Northwestern was where she wanted to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the recruiting process, I was so sure about Northwestern that I didn\u2019t even go on my visits to UNC, UC-Berkeley, Stanford or UCLA,\u201d Hand said. \u201cI didn\u2019t even want to because I knew Northwestern was the right choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like the cold. I know most people would probably say the opposite of that. I also really clicked with the team, plus it wasn\u2019t too far away from home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming to college and playing college tennis involved a number of significant life changes for Hand, both on the court and off.<\/p>\n

\u201cTennis practice is so much more \u2013 you have to put more hours in, and those hours have to be really good,\u201d Hand said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a lot more tennis than I\u2019m used to back at home. Academically, I was home schooled. So, it was a big change actually having to go to a physical classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hand said she was drawn to how Pollard handles Northwestern\u2019s matches and practices \u2013 with tough love.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I respond better to tough love, and when I\u2019m doing something wrong, just telling me straight up,\u201d Hand said.<\/p>\n

Even though she\u2019s a freshman, Pollard still expects Hand to be a leader for the Wildcats, especially as the team\u2019s best player.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s got something special and unique to bring,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cI sort of try to take it upon everyone to learn to be a leader and learn in their specific expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Northwestern freshman Clarissa Hand readies to return a serve in a doubles match against UIC on Jan. 18 at Combe Tennis Center in Evanston. (Neel Madhavan\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Neel Madhavan Medill Reports When freshman Clarissa Hand arrived in Evanston in the fall, she didn\u2019t quite know where she\u2019d fit into Northwestern University\u2019s tennis lineup. Fast forward to the winter\/spring dual-match season, and Hand is leading the Wildcats at the No. 1 singles and doubles positions. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot to ask of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":531,"featured_media":75170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,4559],"tags":[4593,137,4595,2860,4594],"class_list":["post-75169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2019","tag-college-sports","tag-northwestern","tag-northwestern-womens-tennis","tag-tennis","tag-womens-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\nNorthwestern freshman Clarissa Hand ready for challenge of leading Wildcats - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Northwestern freshman Clarissa Hand ready for challenge of leading Wildcats - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Neel Madhavan Medill Reports When freshman Clarissa Hand arrived in Evanston in the fall, she didn\u2019t quite know where she\u2019d fit into Northwestern University\u2019s tennis lineup. Fast forward to the winter\/spring dual-match season, and Hand is leading the Wildcats at the No. 1 singles and doubles positions. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot to ask of a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-29T20:59:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-29T21:41:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/01\/Clarissa-Hand-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"669\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"neelmadhavan2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"neelmadhavan2019\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/\",\"name\":\"Northwestern freshman Clarissa Hand ready for challenge of leading Wildcats - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/01\/Clarissa-Hand-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-29T20:59:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-29T21:41:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/2e6c78dd922092cc92c277a08c23c142\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/freshman-hand-ready-for-challenge-of-leading-northwestern-wildcats\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/01\/Clarissa-Hand-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/01\/Clarissa-Hand-1.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":669,\"caption\":\"Northwestern freshman Clarissa Hand readies to return a serve in a doubles match against UIC on Jan. 18 at Combe Tennis Center in Evanston. 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