The K-State women’s tennis team is scheduled to play a pair of road matches this weekend, as it travels to the Lone Star state to take on two nationally ranked teams.
The Wildcats (3-9, 0-5 Big 12 Conference) head into this weekend’s matches in search of their first conference victory. The task will not be easy, as K-State will take on No. 63 Texas Tech and No. 4 Baylor.
The Wildcats’ last outing against the Oklahoma Sooners resulted in a 6-1 loss, which was the team’s seventh straight loss. Even though the match resulted in another loss, Coach Steve Bietau applauded the efforts of a few Wildcats.
“Generally, at the top of the line-up we did pretty well,” Bietau said. “Antea [Huljev] played another pretty strong match. You know Nina [Sertic] really gained some momentum and won convincingly.”
During the last three matches, the Wildcats have only come away winning one of nine doubles matches. Bietau said a change in the line-up should be the solution to their doubles problems.
“We’re changing our doubles teams,” Bietau said. “One reason for that is Vanessa [Cottin] has been out [with an injury]. During the past weekend’s matches I wasn’t convinced I was getting the most out of our doubles teams, so we’re going to shift some things around.”
Friday, the Wildcats travel to Lubbock, Texas, to play the Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-10, 2-4 Big 12) at 3 p.m. at the McLeod Tennis Center.
The Wildcats will then have Saturday off before traveling across the state to Waco to take on the Baylor Bears (13-4, 4-0 Big 12) at noon at the Baylor Tennis Center.
With yet another road test, Bietau said the opponents for this weekend’s matches present another opportunity for the Wildcats.
“[Texas] Tech has been right in there with the teams that we’ve been playing recently,” Bietau said. “Baylor is another story; this is an elite program that’s a factory in the NCAA [tournament].”