THIS WEEK IN WOMEN'S TENNIS… Upper Iowa will take its 10-8 record on the road this weekend as the team heads west to Des Moines, Iowa to face a pair of non-conference teams. The Peacocks will begin the trip with a 1 p.m. matchup against Grand View College on Friday, Mar. 28. Then, UIU will face Division-I foe Drake University on Saturday at 1 p.m. Saturday's content with the Bulldogs will be held in the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

SIZING UP THE COMPETITION… Grand View enters Friday's matchup with the Peacocks having two players ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) most recently released NAIA Women's Central Region Rankings. Sophomore Natalia Romero (Guayaquil, Ecuador) is currently ranked No.18 individually.  In doubles, Romero and freshman Brigitta Benitez (Santa Clarita, California) are ranked No. 9. The Vikings sit at 5-4 overall this year and most recently defeated Doane College, 5-4, on the road. Drake University comes into Saturday's match with UIU having earned victories in eight of its last 10 matches. The team returns to the Roger Knapp Tennis Center this weekend to host Upper Iowa on Saturday (March 29) before opening Missouri Valley Conference play against Northern Iowa on Sunday (March 30). The Bulldogs defeated UIU, 7-0, the last time these two teams faced last year in February. 

LAST WEEK… The Upper Iowa women's tennis team took care of business against the Mavericks of Minnesota State this past Saturday in Owatonna, Minnesota. The Peacocks have a firm grasp on the fifth spot in the conference standings, but the team needed a win against Minnesota State University - Mankato this weekend to keep pace with the top four teams in the NSIC. UIU did just that with a 6-3 victory over the Mavericks thanks to perfect 2-0 records from four Peacocks. The win gives UIU a 6-3 NSIC record and a 10-8 overall mark in 2014. Saturday's match versus MSU was the only weekend contest for UIU. Now, the Peacocks will prepare for two non-conference games scheduled for next Friday and Sunday. First, the squad will take on Grand View College at 1 p.m. Then, the Peacocks will face Drake University at 9 a.m. to wrap up the weekend. Both matches will be held in Des Moines, Iowa.

NSIC TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK… Saki Kawabata posted a perfect 2-0 overall record at #1 singles and doubles play this past weekend against Minnesota State en route to NSIC Tennis Player of the Week honors. Paired with her doubles partner Kelly Jachymowski, the duo took care of business at #1 doubles as they posted an 8-4 victory. The win gives Kawabata a 10-4 combined record in doubles competition this year. The Osaka, Japan native carried that momentum into singles play as she earned a pair of 6-2 victories over the Mavericks' Melissa Mashburn. Kawabata was playing at #1 for the first time since Feb. 9, but that didn't stop her from earning her seventh conference victory of the year and 11th overall in singles play. The honor is the fourteenth award for Upper Iowa this year, the third for a UIU women's tennis player and the first for Kawabata in her Peacock career. 

WINNING STREAKS... Four Peacocks are currently looking to start a new win streak. Despite no one on the team having a current win streak, Kelly Jachymowski, Iris Verweij, Victoria Kulbokas and Kawabata enter Friday's matchup with Grand View having won their most recent matches. Kawabata will face the Vikings having won five of her last six singles matches and four of her last five doubles matches. Jachymowski has won three of her last five singles matches and four of her last five doubles. Meanwhile, Kulbokas ended a three-game skid in singles play last week with a 6-3, 6-0 win against Minnesota State. Finally, Verweij owns a 12-3 overall record and a 7-1 mark in NSIC play. She has won four of her last five in singles competition and three of her last five in doubles play.