The Wildcats, after a ten-day break in play, took both of their matches at home this past weekend, extending their win streak to three.

After the match against Tulsa was delayed until March 27, the team used the extended break to rest and prepare for their first matches at home this season.

Starting the homestand on Friday, the Wildcats faced off against UTSA, losing the doubles point. As they switched over to singles play, Head Coach Bryan Rainwater reassured his team after losing the first point of the day.

“We’re going to have to be more aggressive against a team like this,” Rainwater said. “We know we are a team that can win singles matches, so we’ve got to stay focused on what we’re doing, not worry about what they’re doing, and really put into play what we’ve been working on.”

That thing that the team has been working on is consistency. From not giving up easy points to maintaining pressure, consistency has been the core message for Rainwater all season.

“My biggest coaching key is that consistency and not letting them have free points,” Rainwater said. “I feel like even sometimes if you just run balls down, they may end up hitting a winner, but you made them hit one more ball to get that winner [and] you may end up winning the next five points.”

The Wildcats came back and won the duel 4-3, taking four of the six singles matches played.

After a quick turnaround, the team came back ready to take on the Lumberjacks on Saturday. The Wildcats took the first point of the day in doubles, maintaining their momentum from the previous day and not allowing fatigue to get the best of them.

“We’ve had a couple of little soreness injuries and things like that, but they responded extremely well so I was super proud,” Rainwater said. “They played extremely hard and handled it extremely well.”

From there, the Wildcats were able to secure their dual win with their performance in singles, again taking four of the matches played.

One of those wins came from Alice Klinteby, senior from Falkenberg, Sweden, who extended her singles win streak to three. After not giving up a set all weekend in her singles matches, she was named the WAC Singles Player of the Week.

“I think she is playing at an extremely high level and I think she’s being coachable and getting to be in a spot in the lineup that she can be really successful at,” Rainwater said.

With two wins at home in the books, the Wildcats are now gearing up for a road trip to Wichita, Kansas. There, the team will have another two matches in as many days, facing off against Wichita State on Friday and Nebraska the next day.

“I’m just excited to be on a three-match win streak and looking forward to what lies ahead,” Rainwater said.