EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern will look to secure the best start to a season in program history Saturday when it takes on No. 8 Illinois at 12 p.m. in the conference opener at the Combe Tennis Center.
 
The Wildcats finish the day with a 6:30 p.m. match against Detroit.
 
The 11th-ranked Wildcats return to competition nearly two weeks after defeating No. 32 Harvard in dominant fashion on Feb. 28 in Cambridge, Mass. A scheduled match against top-10 TCU for Feb. 25 was postponed due to weather.
 
Promotions
One Northwestern student will have the opportunity to win free airfare for their spring break trip, courtesy of Coke Zero.
 
Free pizza will be served in between matches.
 
The Wildcats
Junior Strong Kirchheimer has continued his hot start to dual play. Ranked 95th nationally by the ITA, Kirchheimer has gone 10-0 in dual match play, improving his record to 16-2 for the year.
 
Classmate Konrad Zieba is ranked 11th, and is the fourth-highest ranked Big Ten player, trailing only Ohio State's Mikael Torpegaard and two players from Illinois. Zieba is 8-2 in dual play on the year, including a 7-2 record as the team's number one singles player.
 
83rd-ranked Sam Shropshire rounds out the Wildcats' big three. He sits at 5-3 in dual play on the year. He and Zieba have gone 8-1 this season as a doubles tandem.
 
Scouting Illinois
The Illini feature three players in the ITA top-125, including No. 6 Aleks Vukic and No. 9 Jared Hiltzik. Hiltzik's younger brother, Aron, is ranked 63rd by the ITA.
 
Illinois comes into its match with Chicago's Big Ten Team having played three consecutive matches vs. top-10 teams. The Illini are 1-2 in that span so far, picking up a win against No. 2 Virginia, but dropping matches against No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 3 TCU.
 
Scouting Detroit
Detroit currently sits at 2-8 on the year, including an 0-6 record on the road. Two players have played in the number one spot for the Titans, Patryk Koscielski and Nathan Ponton. Koscielski, a junior from London, has played number one each time he has been on the court in 2016, going 2-5.
 
History
This will be the 104th meeting between Northwestern and Illinois. The Wildcats last beat the Illini in 1997.
 
Saturday's meeting will be the first between Northwestern and Detroit.
 
Next
Northwestern travels to Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday, March 22 to take on No. 3 TCU. The match marks the official makeup from the postponed match earlier this season.
 

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