2016-17 Schedule

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern head coach Arvid Swan unveiled a competitive 2016-17 schedule for the Wildcats on Tuesday, highlighted by four home matchups against top-15 teams from a year ago.

"We are excited to play another challenging non-conference schedule to prepare for the Big Ten," Swan said. "We have high aspirations, and we want the opportunity to test ourselves against the best teams in the country. We especially look forward to playing at home in front of our energetic and supportive fans."

Chicago's Big Ten Team is coming off the best season in program history, in which it won a school-record 26 matches and posted a record-high winning percentage (.839).

The fall season begins at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., which run from Oct. 1 to Oct. 10. That is followed by the Midwest Regional in Columbus, Ohio, from Oct. 20 to Oct. 24. Those that qualify out of the regional will play at the ITA National Indoor Championships Nov. 3-6 in Flushing, N.Y. The final fall event is the Big Ten Singles and Doubles Tournament in Madison, Wis., Nov. 4-7.

The 2017 regular season kicks off at Vanderbilt on Jan. 15. The Wildcats return from Nashville to Evanston for a long home-stand, aided in part by the team hosting a regional of the National Indoor tournament.

Northwestern's home opener is Jan. 20 against TCU, which finished the 2016 season ranked No. 3 in the country. The 'Cats follow that up with home matches against Louisville (Jan. 22), IUPUI (Jan. 22), Boise State (Feb. 3), Harvard (Feb. 4) and Duke (Feb. 5). The two national indoor matches will be Jan. 28-29.

The ITA National Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. are held Feb. 17-20 and are sandwiched between road trips to Raleigh, N.C. for a match against North Carolina State (Feb. 10) and to South Bend, Ind. to take on Notre Dame (Feb. 24).

The second Sunday doubleheader of the year brings No. 13 Oklahoma State to town along with UIC on Feb. 26.

Big Ten play begins March 3 with a trip to No. 18 Illinois. Last year's regular season match between the Wildcats and Illini saw a 27-match losing streak come to an end along with Northwestern's first win over a top-10 team since the ITA began archiving rankings in 1981.

A quick home non-conference Sunday match with No. 11 Texas Tech on March 5 is followed by more conference play.

Purdue comes to Evanston on March 24 and then the Wildcats go on the road for three straight at Indiana (March 26), Wisconsin (March 31) and Minnesota (April 2). Northwestern hosts Nebraska (April 7) and Iowa (April 9) in the penultimate home stand of the year before wrapping up its time on the road with matches at Michigan State (April 14) and Michigan (April 16).

The regular season concludes with home matches against No. 4 Ohio State (April 21), Penn State (April 23) and Chicago State (April 23).

The Big Ten tournament will be held April 27-30 in West Lafayette, Ind. on the campus of Purdue. The first two rounds of the NCAA tournament are regional, and the Round of 16-onward is in Athens, Ga. from May 18-29.

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Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern University Athletics

Competitive Season Ahead for Record-Breaking Wildcats

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