Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Hit the Road for ITA Kick-Off Weekend
1/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 23, 2015
| #28 Northwestern (1-1) vs. #58 Arkansas (2-1) |
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| Date | Saturday, Jan. 24 | 10 a.m. |
| Location | Headington Family Tennis Center | Norman, Okla. |
| Live Scoring | SoonerSports.com |
| #28 Northwestern (1-1) vs. #2 Oklahoma (1-0) or #56 New Mexico (4-2) |
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| Date | Sunday, Jan. 25 | TBA |
| Location | Headington Family Tennis Center | Norman, Okla. |
| Live Scoring | SoonerSports.com |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 28 Northwestern travels to the seventh annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend this weekend, where they will face No. 58 Arkansas at 10 a.m on Saturday. Depending on the outcome, the 'Cats will square off against No. 2 Oklahoma or No. 56 New Mexico on Sunday.
Flight winners coming out of this weekend will earn berths to the ITA National Indoor Championships in February. The men's tournament will be hosted by the University of Illinois in Chicago.
The Wildcats rose six spots in the ITA rankings to No. 28 this week, following two close matches against top-30 opponents last weekend. Their 4-3 win over No. 19 Vanderbilt last Sunday no doubt propelled their ascent in the rankings.
Sophomore Strong Kirchheimer is NU's only ranked singles player, checking in at No. 108. He went undefeated last weekend in both singles and doubles, and was subsequently named Big Ten Athlete of the Week.
Arkansas is 2-1 on the season and sits at No. 58 in the nation. The Razorbacks lost their top three players last season, and do not currently have any ranked players in singles or doubles.
No. 2 Oklahoma was just shy of an NCAA Championship title last year and opened 2015 with a 6-1 win over Wichita State on Tuesday. The Sooners have four players ranked in the top 50, the highest of which is Axel Alvarez at No. 14. Alvarez also makes one half of the No. 38 doubles duo with Dane Webb.
No. 56 New Mexico posted 20 wins last season but was just short of a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Lobos have compiled a 4-2 record already and boast one ranked singled players in No. 41 Samir Iftikhar.
For more information on the tournament, visit the ITA website.
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