Jan. 11, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern begins a seven-match home stand to start the dual season by welcoming local foe DePaul Friday at 6 p.m. and 29th-ranked Louisville Sunday at noon to the Combe Tennis Center. The Wildcats begin the winter portion of their schedule ranked 56th in the nation. The pair of Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) and Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) start the season as the nation's 27th-ranked doubles tandem.
The Wildcats will enjoy plenty of home cooking in 2007. The 'Cats play 15 matches, 11 of their first 12, in Evanston. The 15-match home schedule is arguably the most impressive home slate under head coach Paul Torricelli. The Wildcats welcome top 30 opponents No. 29 Louisville, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 24 Wake Forest, No. 30 Arkansas and No. 6 Mississippi before Big Ten season begins February 16 against Penn State.
Torch's Take
"We're anxious to get the season started and we're especially excited about the next couple of months with all of our home matches," coach Torricelli said. "Friday night is special because of the return of former assistant Arvid Swan. It will be his first dual match as head coach of DePaul. Louisville is one of the top teams in our region so we've got a huge challenge right away this season."
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Live results will be provided for every home match held indoors at the Combe Tennis Center. Live Stats can be found under the match name on the front page of NUsports.com or at this link: Tennis Live Stats.
Northwestern Notes
In the fist set of ITA national rankings, Northwestern sits at No. 56. In doubles, Lock and Christian are the nation's 27th-ranked tandem.
The ITA released its regional rankings on December 8, 2006 and two Wildcats appear in the midwest singles top-30. Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium LohbrÜgge) is No. 19 and Lock sits at No. 30. In doubles, the pair of Lock and Christian are the sixth-ranked duo in the region.
Lock and Christian made plenty of noise during the fall season. The duo, playing together for the first time, advanced through the qualifying draw at the season-opening ITA All-American Championships and fell in the second round of the main draw. The team won four-straight matches to get through the first round of the prestigious event. The tandem fell in the round of 16 at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships.
Assistant coach Nick Carless and volunteer assistant coach Adam Schaechterle join coach Torricelli's staff for 2006-07. Carless was a volunteer assistant on last year's Pepperdine squad that won the NCAA National Championship. While on the Waves' staff, Carless worked under former Wildcat assistant Adam Steinberg. Steinberg will return to Evanston with his Pepperdine team on January 21.
DePaul head coach Arvid Swan joined the Blue Demons after serving as Northwestern's assistant coach from 2003-06.