EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 26 Northwestern opens its dual season Sunday with two matches in a nine-hour span. The team will travel to Kentucky to face No. 36 Louisville at 9:30 a.m. Immediately following, the Wildcats return to Evanston to face crosstown foe Chicago State at 7 p.m.
 
Northwestern is led by its three nationally ranked singles players: Konrad Zieba (No. 16), Sam Shropshire (No. 50) and Strong Kirchheimer (No. 55). The doubles tandem of Shropshire and team captain Fedor Baev ranks 52nd in the ITA poll.
 
The Wildcats finished the 2014-15 season with a record of 21-10, the third consecutive season with 20-plus wins for Northwestern. Chicago's Big Ten Team has been to four straight NCAA tournaments.
 
Louisville has the nation's 108th-ranked singles player, Alex Gornet. He and his doubles partner, Jeffrey Brown, are the 57th-ranked doubles tandem.
 
The Cardinals boast a strong 2014-15 campaign, in which they won 23 matches, including an 18-4 record on their home courts.
 
The Wildcats will face Chicago State for the first time since January 2014, which ended in a 4-0 Northwestern victory. The Cougars are led this time around by Sergiu Muresan, who is fresh off a five-match win streak to end his 2015 campaign.
 

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