After almost a month and a half on the road, the Wildcats return home this weekend to face Indiana (8-8, 2-1 Big Ten) on Saturday and Penn State (12-3, 1-2) on Sunday.

Coming home is a welcome change for the team, which has yet to win a dual meet on the road.

“Everybody’s excited to get back here and play at home,” coach Paul Torricelli said.

All of the Cats’ (6-9, 1-2) victories were in Evanston, while the team is winless away from Northwestern.

The Hoosiers have won four matches in a row, while the Nittany Lions have won three straight.

After a strong start to the season, the Cats struggled and are now on a five-game skid, including two losses last week in California to Pepperdine (6-9) and San Diego (13-4).

NU had not played in more than two weeks, but Torricelli said the long break did not really affect the outcome of the matches.

“It’s something we’re used to because of the academic calendar,” Torricelli said. “We’ve played so much this year that the break was a healthy thing. That’s what you get at a quarter school.”

Sophomore Willy Lock recorded the only singles victory for the Cats at Pepperdine, improving to 17-7 overall. He also won his doubles match with new partner sophomore Christian Tempke.

“We thought we’d mix our doubles up,” Torricelli said. “It’s very typical to switch doubles partners around this time of year. They showed a lot of promise.”

The Cats had a little more success against San Diego, but could not pull off a victory. Seniors Tommy Hanus and Chuck Perrin recorded the team’s only doubles win, while Perrin and junior Adam Schaechterle won their singles matches.

The team hopes to build off this momentum as it continues Big Ten play this weekend.

“I think the guys are determined to finish strong,” Torricelli said.