April 15, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern puts its three-match winning streak to the test this weekend, as the Wildcats hit the road for a pair of Big Ten matches. Saturday, April 16, NU takes on one of the nation's best: No. 4 Illinois (16-3 overall, 6-0 Big Ten). The `Cats will then close their conference road schedule Sunday, April 17 at Purdue (3-12, 0-6). Both matches start at 12 p.m. CT.
Illinois is in the midst of another stellar season, with its only losses coming against then-No. 19 Kentucky, then-No. 13 Pepperdine and No. 1 Baylor. The Illini are 5-1 in Champaign this year. The Kentucky Wildcats handed them their only home loss of the season April 9 by a 4-3 tally.
Illinois boasts three players in the top-50 singles rankings. Ryler Deheart (No. 5) has a 33-8 overall record, GD Jones (No. 33) is 22-6 and freshman-phenom Kevin Anderson (No. 42) is 17-4. Deheart and Jones also join forces to form the nation's eighth-ranked doubles team. They will most likely face seniors Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Chuck Perrin (Atlanta, Ga./The Walker School) at the No. 1 slot, where the Wilcats have won their last five.
Perrin is fresh off a weekend against Minnesota and Iowa that saw him go 4-0 en route to earning his first-career Big Ten Athlete of the Week honor.
Sunday at Purdue, the `Cats will look to spoil the Boilermakers' Senior Day. The Wildcats hold a sizable 58-17-2 all-time advantage over a Purdue that has dropped its last nine matches and is winless in the conference.
Paul Rose has a team-best 15-12 overall mark and is 5-7 in duals. Colin Foster and Scott Warner each notched singles wins in Purdue's latest match -- a 4-3 loss to Michigan State.
For the 'Cats, sophomore Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) has won his last four singles matches, while Perrin and sophomore Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) have each won their last two singles contests.
After this weekend, Northwestern finishes the Big Ten season at home Saturday, April 23 against Ohio State. Seniors Hanus, Perrin and Justin Hoeveler (Ross, Calif./The Branson School) will be honored before the match starts at noon.