We have a much tougher schedule this year than in years past. I have focused on playing as many ranked teams as possible. Our conference schools have become much more competitive this year. We do not have any walkover matches.
Washington State is a team that should be ranked and is very good. We had a tough battle with them last year and I expect the same this year. They have a tough No. 1 who is ranked very high nationally and they also have some big hitters down the line-up.
After the tough loss to UC Santa Barbara, I expect our team to respond fiercely. We had a little gut check playing a ranked team that was beatable.
It was a great effort by our team to play a ranked opponent on the road on their home court. We obviously would have liked to come away with a win, but I'm happy with our effort the girls put forth.
They are ranked No. 24 in the country and are extremely deep. They play tremendous doubles. We need to come into this match without thinking about who they are and focus on being relaxed and allow ourselves to get into our game plan.