The South Siders are headed to the gateway city of St. Louis this weekend looking to continue their winning ways and to make a late season push for the NCAA tournament. The Maroons will be facing off against Wash U, Texas Tyler, and UW–Whitewater.

After winning two out of three matches at last week’s Midwest Invite in Madison, WI, Chicago will look to sweep all three this time around in St. Louis. The lone match that got away from the Maroons last week was against Wash U. The squad is looking forward to getting a little revenge this weekend against the Bears.

“We are definitely excited to play Wash U again and show them what we can do. We beat them earlier in the season, so we know we are more than capable of beating them again,” said first-year Courtney Warren.

So far, Chicago has split the season series with the Bears, but that isn’t stopping Warren from approaching this matchup with a positive attitude.

“The team has had an overarching goal of positivity this season. I think our goal for this weekend specifically is to remain positive despite the loss last weekend, and come out with even more energy than before.”

The Maroons will have to couple their positive attitudes with a sound strategy. Last weekend, they were slowed down by their inability to counter the Bears’ adjustment of strategy. This time around, the squad is looking forward to showing that it is ready to make the necessary adjustments to beat the Bears.

“During our match against Washington this weekend, we saw them change a lot of their strategy against us from the previous time we played them. They adjusted very well to our strategies to come up with new ones this time and I am excited for our team to counter those—because we more or less know their new strategies this weekend” first-year Ariana Iranpour said.

If the Maroons can make enough adjustments to match their cohesiveness and enthusiasm on the court, they should be able to compete well against the Bears. The cohesion that this team has had lately has fueled it to victories. Both men and women cited the recent trip to California as reasons for their surge in teamwork.

“Our team has come together so much in the past few weeks. Our spring training trip to California was not only great for our individual games, but the team got a lot closer as well,” Warren said. “I think we all now know where our strengths are and where we can contribute most to the team. The team is definitely closer than ever, and excited for the final stretch of our season.”

“I feel like both athletically and emotionally our team is getting stronger as a whole with every match we play,” Iranpour added.

With UAA Championships and the NCAA tournament just around the corner, the team seems to be gelling at just the right time. Look for the Maroons to carry this momentum into this weekend in St. Louis. The game against Wash U kicks off at 9 a.m.