The bull's eye has been on the women's tennis team's back all year long. After last year's enlightened run to the Mid-American Conference Championship, the Bulls encountered motivated teams looking to prove their worth against the reigning champions.
Buffalo took on the challenge and finished the regular season feeling as confident as ever.
With their 6-1 home win against Akron on Saturday, Buffalo (13-5, 6-2 Mid-American Conference) clinched the No. 2 seed for the upcoming MAC Women's Tennis Championship. The team's quest for a repeat title starts Friday with a quarterfinal match-up with Eastern Michigan (5-15, 2-6 MAC), the No. 7 seed.
"A No. 2 seed is very important," said head coach Kathy Twist. "There is a lot of parity in the field this season, and being out of the middle of the pack is big because those teams are going to beat each other up."
Buffalo entered last year's championship as the No. 6 seed following a 4-4 MAC record. Playing the Championship on its home court, the team fed off the home atmosphere and rolled to three victories and a MAC Championship.
This time around, Buffalo wants to prove that last year's home court advantage was not the reason why they won.
This year's championship will take place on the campus of Bowling Green (12-6, 5-3 MAC), the No. 4 seed. To qualify for the NCAA Tournament, Buffalo must knock off some formidable foes.
Miami (OH) (13-6, 8-0 MAC) enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Redhawks flexed their muscles against the defending MAC Champions earlier this month, defeating the Bulls 6-1 on April 3.
But Twist and the Bulls are not worried about the Redhawks just yet. The head coach knows that the rest of the field will be playing their best tennis.
"Toledo, Bowling Green, Akron and Western Michigan will be tough matches for anyone they face," Twist said. "... Eastern Michigan is still a tough team."
Junior Denise Harijanto and sophomore Diana Popescu will attempt to lead their team this weekend. The Bulls' No. 1 doubles team dominated throughout the regular season and finished with a 16-1 record.
Both players succeeded in singles play as well. Harijanto was Buffalo's No. 1 singles player throughout the season and led the team with a 14-4 record. Popescu finished the season with a 13-5 record as the Bulls' No. 2 singles player.
"They are just outstanding tennis players who know how to play with each other," Twist said. "They are very smart players. In doubles, you need a good strategy, such as playing angles and positioning, and these two have that."
Harijanto, Popescu and the Bulls come into the tournament riding off energy gained during their win against Akron. Buffalo regained its swagger against the Zips after dropping a contest against Bowling Green a week prior.
Twist knows the team has been in this situation before; they just needed a pick-up.
"[The Akron game] showed us that we are destined to have a good tournament," she said. "The team is ready to go. We are not tired... we are mentally and physically ready. We picked up a lot of confidence from this game."
Buffalo's attempt at a second consecutive MAC Championship begins Friday with the Eagles. The Bulls easily defeated Eastern Michigan 7-0 in their lone matchup in March. The two teams battle it out at 2 p.m. with the winner advancing to Saturday's semifinal round against the winner of the Western Michigan-Akron matchup.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
