Nov. 14, 2008

EVANSTON, Ill. -- After a handful of individual tournament, Northwestern now sets its sights on the dual-meet portion of its 2008-09 season, hosting the fall portion of the Northwestern Duals this Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 15 and 16, at Patten Gymnasium. Action gets underway both days at 8 a.m.

The NU Duals are the first of seven dual meets head coach Laurie Schiller's squad will compete in this season as the Wildcats continue to pursue the Midwest Conference Championship. NU will go head-to-head against Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Indiana, Iowa, Lawrence, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue and Wisconsin. Each team will pit their top three fencers in each weapon head-to-head, with the team amassing the most points earning the victory.

Last season was another successful one for the Wildcats, finishing 36-4 during the regular season and third in the Midwest Conference. NU then went on to capture seventh-place in the NCAA tournament, earning three All-American bids for Sam Nemecek, Christa French and Joanna Niklinska. Schiller continues to close in on the 1,000-win mark, entering the season with an impressive 955-405 (.702) record in his 31 seasons in Evanston.