After a loss at the Boise State Invitational, women’s tennis players are looking to win in their first Mid-American Conference match of the season.

This weekend, the team plays Marshall and Miami of Ohio at the Rush-Copley Center in Aurora. Coach Laura Scott said those are two tough MAC teams, and winning the doubles point and playing strong in singles action are necessary to win.

“We need to compete really well against them,” Scott said, “play like we did two weeks ago against Drake and SIU.”

Tennis player Molly Opel said she would like to see the team establish a strong conference start.

“If we have the right intensity, we can win,” she said.

Opel’s teammate, Kris Tiedt, said tough competition has prepared the team for this week’s matchups.

“After a couple of losses over spring break, we really bounced back and kept the intensity up all week,” Tiedt said.

Opel said she’s been trying to get mentally prepared for the season. Tiedt added that she and Opel have been working on their individual weaknesses.

“We’ve had a lot of match play over the week,” Tiedt said.