OMAHA, Neb. – The IUPUI women's tennis team returns for one more week of action to try and steal a spot in the Summit League Tournament by sweeping their final two opponents. The Jags are currently sixth in the Summit League standings, but a pair of wins this weekend against Omaha (Apr. 21) and Oral Roberts (Apr. 23) would land IUPUI in the top four.
"We definitely have a challenge ahead of us this weekend," head coach Marisa Lambropoulos said. "The girls will have to be ready to face that challenge head on. I try to keep them focused on the process and make sure that we show up on all nine courts and fight until the very last point. If we accomplish that, we'll see the success we're looking for."
| SUMMIT LEAGUE STANDINGS |
| Team |
Summit |
Overall |
| Denver |
5-0 |
18-2 |
| South Dakota |
3-1 |
10-10 |
| South Dakota State |
2-2 |
12-8 |
| Oral Roberts |
2-2 |
11-11 |
| Omaha |
1-2 |
10-10 |
| IUPUI |
1-3 |
6-15 |
| Western Illinois |
0-4 |
5-11 |
The Jags (6-15, 1-3) are just sixth in the conference standings to begin the week. The top four teams are invited to the Summit League Tournament at the end of April, but IUPUI would jump from sixth to fourth with two wins this weekend. They'd jump Omaha for fifth with a win on Thursday (Apr. 21) in a 10 a.m. matchup, setting them up for a potential play-in game with ORU (Apr. 23) at 11 a.m.
Regardless of ORU's result early in the week–the Golden Eagles play South Dakota on Wednesday (Apr. 20)–if the Jags beat Omaha and ORU, they'd finish with a better or even record as the Golden Eagles and a spot in the postseason because of the tiebreaker.
The Jags have had a bit of a bumpy April with just a 1-4 record this month. However, three of those four losses have been dealt by the top three teams in the Summit League. IUPUI lost 6-1 to highly-touted Denver on Apr. 3 before nearly escaping South Dakota (L, 4-3) and South Dakota State (L, 5-2) last weekend.
Freshman Brigitte Swartwood has been the guaranteed point for the Jags this spring. She's continued her dominance in both singles and doubles play winning nine of her last 12 singles matches and four of her last six doubles matches. The last time Swartwood didn't win her point for IUPUI was Feb. 12, nearly 70 days and 10 matches ago.
Junior Sara Sherif is coming off a great weekend as well. The junior transfer won both singles matches in just two sets, winning two of IUPUI's five points last weekend.
Thursday's (Apr. 21) match is set for 10 a.m. in Omaha, Neb., followed by a short trip to Tulsa, Okla. where IUPUI takes on Oral Roberts at 11 a.m. on Saturday (Apr. 23).
