Head coach Kathy Bull has never really been good about predicting how her team will perform. During the weekend, the women's tennis team went "above and beyond" what Bull thought the team would accomplish as it posted two 5-2 victories over DePaul and University of Illinois-Chicago.
"It was just a fantastic weekend," Bull said. "It is the best team weekend we've had in quite a few seasons."
Bull said going into the match against Illinois-Chicago she felt the Cardinals (3-2) matched up fairly evenly with the Flames (3-6). After sweeping the doubles matches, however, she said the team took a lot of momentum into Sunday's match against DePaul.
DePaul (8-3), a top-70 team in the country, defeated a Michigan State team that beat the Cardinals 6-1 on Feb. 17. Just as Bull said, the momentum carried over as the Cardinals took the doubles point.
"Right from the get-go, in the doubles point, we got to them," Bull said. "We got them on their heels early and they really never had the chance to recover."
With a young team - there are no seniors and two juniors on the team - the Cardinals have struggled with consistency this season. Sophomore Melissa Roach has had to step into the No. 1 spot and has had trouble facing opposing teams' No. 1 players. During the weekend, however, she went undefeated, including doubles play.
"This is the type of play of which Melissa is capable," Bull said. "But she had a great supporting cast in every player. Abby (Hodge) probably played the best tennis since stepping foot in this country."
Hodge and fellow freshman Leisa Brooks defeated DePaul opponents who defeated them soundly earlier in the season at Invite at Western, Bull said.
"It was such a team effort," Bull said. "I could just sit back and watch it. I was just amazed."
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