Hog Netters Head to Windy City for Trio of Matches

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 30 Arkansas travels to Chicago this weekend for three matches against Windy City area teams.

The Razorbacks (1-1), who remained 30th nationally in the latest ITA Rankings released Tuesday, take on No. 48 Northwestern Friday at 6 p.m. before facing DePaul and Chicago St. on Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

The Hogs and Northwestern (3-3) will face off at the Combe Tennis Center on the Northwestern Campus in Evanston, Ill. Live scoring will be available on Hogwired.com.

UA’s matches with No. 71 DePaul (2-1) and Chicago St. (1-0) will be held at the Lakeshore Athletic Club in Chicago. Please check Hogwired.com for results.

Blake Strode, of St. Louis, Mo., leads the Hogs into Chicago. The 57th-ranked sophomore is 10-3 on the season and 1-0 in dual matches. The remainder of the Razorback lineup will likely consist of junior Colin Mascall, and then freshmen Dmitry Lebedev, Gabriel Mattos, Dmitry Vlaskin, Drew Sosebee or Jorge Villanueva.

The Arkansas roster features seven freshmen and one senior, making Coach Robert Cox’s squad the youngest in Division I tennis.

In the Hogs’ opening weekend of the season, they advanced to the semifinals of the ITA Central Regional Championships, knocking off Illinois St., 4-1, before falling to 27th-ranked Tulsa.

After this weekend, the Razorbacks return for a doubleheader to open their home schedule. UA hosts Cowley County Community College at 11 a.m. before taking on regional foe Wichita St. at 6 p.m. Both matches will be held at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center in Fayetteville.