It is tournament time for the UChicago women’s tennis team as the Maroons look to continue their successful season to date. The NCAA regional tournament is being hosted by UW–Whitewater, and UChicago is one of the higher seeds with a bye in the first round of matches on Friday. They then play the winner of Grinnell versus Coe on Saturday at 3 p.m. If they win that match, they move onto the final on Sunday. Winning the final would move them past the regional stage of the tournament and extend their season another week.

Let’s preview the possible opponents for the Maroons this upcoming Saturday. Coe College has had a mixed season this year and is happy to have this chance. They come into this regional tournament with a record of 15–13. However, the Kohawks have already played Grinnell College twice this year and lost both matches, 6–3 and 5–4. It would be necessary for them to overcome this recent bad stretch if they want to advance to face the Maroons. UChicago beat Coe College earlier this year with a score of 9–0, so the Maroons should be feeling confident if the Kohawks do advance. Grinnell College has had a very successful season so far this year with an impressive record of 19–4. However, they have struggled, compared to the rest of their season, on neutral court with three of their four losses coming from neutral site matches. The Pioneers have not played the Maroons this year, so it would be interesting to see how the teams would match up. It seems likely that the Maroons will have to get past the Pioneers to make it through to the third round of the tournament and the match on Sunday.

Claire Handa, a first-year phenom for the tennis team, is positive about the upcoming weekend. “The team has been training hard all week outdoors, particularly doubles this past week, and hopefully will get a chance to showcase some of our hard work on the court at regionals. We are all excited and positive about the weekend ahead of us.” Hopefully the Maroons are able to channel this positive energy to win this match and extend their season.