The women’s tennis team will open the regular season at 11 a.m. this Saturday as they play host to the Drake Bulldogs at the Cottonwood Racquet Club. The Wildcats are 6-4 all-time in matches against the Bulldogs, with a current winning streak of five. The last time the Wildcats faced the Bulldogs, K-State was victorious in a 7-0 route in January of 2007.
The Wildcats are coming off a non-conference slate where they played in tournaments against division 1A teams in Arkansas, Kansas, Indiana, New Mexico and Georgia.
Team captains for this year’s squad include two 2008 Academic First Team All-Big 12 selections in senior Katerina Kudlackova and junior Natasha Vieira. Kudlackova saw action last year in the number two and three postions, while Vieira saw action in the number four and five positions in the lineup.
This year’s team has a large number of underclassman on the roster. Five of the seven players on the women’s tennis team are freshman or sophomores, with sophomore Antea Huljev and freshman Mariya Slupska going 12-11 already this season.
After this weekend’s match, the Wildcats will begin a four-game road test that includes stops in Boise, Idaho, and Wichita before returning to Manhattan on March 5 to face Brigham Young University.