Northwestern University Athletics
`Cats Host Columbia for Solo Weekend Match-Up
3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Mar. 13, 2015
| #16 Northwestern (11-5) vs. #23 Columbia (6-2) |
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| Date | Saturday, Mar. 14 | Noon |
| Location | Combe Tennis Center | Evanston, Ill. |
| Live Scoring | NUSports.com |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 16 Northwestern looks to continue its five-match win streak with a challenging home test against No. 23 Columbia. The visiting Lions arrive in Evanston for a noon match on Saturday.
Currently 11-5 on the season and 2-1 in the Big Ten, the `Cats went undefeated last weekend in besting No. 27 Indiana (4-3), Purdue (7-0), and Western Illinois (7-0). Their successful run of late has propelled them to a season-high ITA ranking of No. 16.
Sophomores Sam Shropshire and Strong Kirchheimer are also on an upward trend in the singles rankings. Both climbed several spots this week, with Shropshire at No. 88 and Kirchheimer at No. 107.
Doubles pair Mihir Kumar and Alp Horoz continued their winning stretch with their eighth straight victory last weekend. Presently an unstoppable force at No. 3, the duo has compiled a 9-1 record this spring.
Columbia is 6-2 on the season and has won its last three consecutive matches. Ranked as high as No. 11 in mid-February, the Lions have not met a ranked opponent in nearly a month and check in at No. 23 this week.
The Lions' roster includes two ranked singles players in No. 16 Winston Lin and No. 83 Dragos Ignat. It also boasts three ranked doubles tandems: No. 20 Narayana/Schnur, No. 42 Pham/Vermeer (though has not played in duals), and No. 57 Lin/Vermeer.
Northwestern and Columbia have met only once in their histories (and not in the last fifteen years), a contest the Lions took for a victory.
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