PROVO -- After going one-and-one on the road against Notre Dame and Wisconsin, the No. 23-ranked BYU women's tennis team (8-3) will face the Utah Utes (No. 75) on Saturday February 28th at 2:00 p.m. in the George S. Eccles Center.
Returning from their mid-west road trip, head coach Craig Manning feels the team pushed themselves to the limit against two tough opponents. The Cougars took Monday and Tuesday off to rest and recover and regroup.
"I just felt like they were all so exhausted half way through the match against Wisconsin," Manning said. "None of them gave up, but I could tell they were really worn out. I think that with the break, they will come out with a lot of energy this week."
This week BYU doubles duo of Hadley Macfarlane and Barbora Zahnova received a No. 34 ranking after going 6-5 on the season in doubles play thus far. Coach Manning put the two players together at the beginning of the season knowing the pair would be strong for the Cougars at the No. 1 spot.
Senior Zahnova is a native from Slovakia and has come on strong this season as a leader on the team. Currently ranked 39th in the country, Zahnova is 7-3 in singles play posting some impressive wins over the country's top players to lead the Cougars to a 8-3 record.
Despite the exhaustion shown by the team in Wisconsin, Coach Manning is confident about the competition against Utah this weekend.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how we do on Saturday," Manning said. "It should be a good match. Our girls just play with so much heart, that I'm excited to see how we execute."