Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Remain on the Road to Face Hoosiers, Boilermakers
4/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 14, 2011
No. 72 Northwestern (11-9, 2-4 Big Ten) vs. No. 23 Indiana (20-4, 7-0 Big Ten)
Friday, April 15
IU Tennis Center
Bloomington, Ind. • 1 p.m. CT
No. 72 Northwestern (11-9, 2-4 Big Ten) vs. Purdue (10-11, 1-6 Big Ten)
Sunday, April 17
Schwartz Tennis Center
West Lafayette, Ind. • Noon
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Before ending the regular season at home, No. 72 Northwestern takes to the road one more time this weekend to face two tough Big Ten opponents. The Wildcats will travel to Indiana to try to upset the Big Ten leader 23rd-ranked Hoosiers at 1 p.m. CT Friday before heading to West Lafayette to play Purdue at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday.
NU pulled off one upset of a ranked foe and nearly made it two last weekend, defeating No. 57 Iowa, 5-2, before coming up short against intra-state rival No. 15 Illinois, 4-3. The 'Cats will again look for support from the pair of Josh Graves and Spencer Wolf as the No. 1 doubles team. With their 13-5 record, Graves and Wolf are still four dual wins away from having the most in 12 years for a doubles team at Northwestern.
Scouting Indiana
No. 23 Indiana (21-4, 7-0 Big Ten) sits atop the conference standings and heads into the weekend on an 11-match winning streak. The Hoosiers had close calls over the weekend with a pair of 4-3 wins over No. 20 Minnesota and Wisconsin on the road.
Led by Jeremy Langer at the No. 1 line, the Hoosiers are a tough match up having five players with at least 14 singles victories this season. In doubles, their success is daunting as well as the duos of Josh MacTaggart and Steven Vogl and Santiago Gruter and Jeremy Langer each have 20 wins on the season.
Indiana has won four straight matches over Northwestern, including a 6-1 victory against the 'Cats last season.
Scouting Purdue
Purdue (10-11, 1-6 Big Ten) is coming off a couple of close losses last weekend, falling 4-3 to both Wisconsin and No. 20 Minnesota. The Boilermakers are a young team that looks to sophomore Krisztian Krocsko for wins at the No. 1 position. Freshman Aaron Dujovne leads the team with a 16-5 record at the No. 5 spot.
Purdue utilizes a number of different doubles pairs, but with a 9-10 record on the season, Dujovne again leads the team, followed by fellow freshman Mark Kovacs who has eight wins to his credit.
Looking Ahead
Northwestern will finish the regular season in the comforts of home next weekend as Michigan and Michigan State come to Evanston Saturday and Sunday. The following week, the 'Cats will head back to Bloomington, Ind., to compete in the Big Ten Tournament, scheduled for April 28-May 1.
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