Jan. 20, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- A pair of 2005 NCAA Tournament qualifiers meet this weekend when Northwestern's men's tennis team hosts No. 26 Notre Dame at 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Combe Tennis Center. The Wildcats look to improve upon their 2-0 home record this season with a win over the Fighting Irish.
The Wildcats enter the match after a dominating 7-0 win over DePaul Wednesday, their second shutout of the season. The 'Cats swept both the singles and doubles competitions to improve their dual-meet record to 3-1 this season.
Northwestern has received solid performances across the roster this season. Junior Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium Lohbrügge) enters the match tied with freshman Marc Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga./University of Nebraska-Independent Study High School) with a team-high nine wins this year. Tempke has posted a 9-5 record this year while Dwyer stands at 9-4.
Junior Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College), who has competed primarily at the No. 2 singles spot this year, stands at 4-4. Lock is coming off a big win at No. 1 singles versus DePaul's Gabe Inchauste, winning the match 6-4, 6-3 in his first appearance at No. 1 this season.
Saturday night's match is the season opener for Notre Dame, which won its second-consecutive Big East title last season. The Fighting Irish are ranked 26th in the country and return seven of eight players from last year's team that went 18-8 overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
The Fighting Irish are led by eighth-ranked Stephen Bass and No. 14 Sheeva Parbhu in singles play. Bass went 24-14 in singles last year, while Parbhu posted a team-best 32-7 overall record.
In doubles play, Notre Dame's team of Eric Langenkamp and Ryan Keckley is ranked 12th nationally.
The match will mark the 75th all-time meeting between the two programs, with Notre Dame holding a 37-36-1 advantage. The Wildcats have had Notre Dame's number at home, however, leading the series 18-14-1 when playing in Evanston.