Last season, the UW-Eau Claire women’s tennis team beat Mankato State University (Minn.) by a score of 8-1. The next weekend it took on Winona State University (Minn.) and had a similar performance, winning by a 9-0 margin.

This season’s match-ups look to be similar.

“We’ve done well against them in the past,” freshman Jenny Stafford said. “We’re looking to come out with a win.”

The Blugolds head into the match with a 1-4 record for dual meets this spring, 8-4 for duals on the year and a 21-44 mark overall.

The ‘Golds are coming off a 7-2 loss to Williams College (Mass.).

Mankato’s tennis team is coming into the match with a 6-4 winning record. It is coming off two wins last weekend against Bethel College (Minn.) and Macalester College (Minn.).

“We’ve heard that Mankato will be stacking their lineup,” Stafford said. “We should be able to win even if they stack their lineup.”

Winona will bring a winning dual meet record of 7-6 into the contest.

The Blugolds will match-up against Winona State at 9 a.m. on Saturday. They will then go on to face Mankato at 5 p.m.

“These will be our first matches since California so we’re looking forward to just playing,” Stafford said. “These are our last matches before regionals next weekend, so we hope to do well.”

The Midwest Regional Tournament will be held April 13 and 14 in Madison.

At last year’s regional meet, the Blugolds won their first match, but went on to lose their next two matches. The Blugolds are hoping for a better performance this season.

“We’re a really strong team,” Stafford said. “We’re looking to do well at regionals so we can go to nationals. It (regionals) will be an important match for us.”