Syracuse must be getting sick of that town.

For the third time this year, the Syracuse tennis team (4-2, 3-1 Big East) will head south to Ithaca. But unlike past trips, when the Orangewomen took part in tournaments at Cornell, Syracuse will face Western Michigan — a team they’ve never seen before — and face the Big Red for the third time this year.

‘My team wants to beat Cornell,’ Gifford said. ‘They’ve lost to Cornell two or three years in a row. And the seniors are sick of it.’

But first, the Orangewomen play Western Michigan, the first of six consecutive non-conference meets for Syracuse. Head coach Mac Gifford isn’t sure what to expect from these new opponents.

‘We don’t really know anything about Western Michigan,’ Gifford said. ‘But we’ve still got to play good tennis to beat them.’

Though they’ve never played Western Michigan, the Orangewomen realize the Broncos have played Illinois, Indiana and Purdue and performed well against them. Syracuse is drooling at the opportunity to beat a competitive team like WMU.

‘We feel like we’re playing really well this year,’ junior Jessica Schlosser said. ‘Beating Western Michigan will only make us look better.’

Sunday’s match against Cornell, though, is another story. While Syracuse is blindly walking into the Western Michigan match, the Orangewomen will walk into Cornell having seen their players before.

If experiences against Cornell — Syracuse’s biggest non-conference rival — are any indication of what Syracuse should expect to see this weekend, the team might be in trouble.

‘Every match is important, but Cornell especially,’ sophomore Kristine Bech Holte said.

And the Orangewomen couldn’t be much better prepared. Having already faced Cornell players in three preseason tournaments — twice at Cornell and once at Maryland — SU knows exactly what kind of competitors it’ll be facing. And the team is hoping to use these past experiences to their advantage.

‘It’s nice going into it knowing who you’re going to play in the lineup,’ Schlosser said. ‘You’re more aware of what you need to do in order to win.’

With a successful season already in the works, this weekend’s matchups could determine whether the Orangewomen — who are riding a streak of three straight wins — will continue to perform at such a competitive level for the rest of the season.

SU recognizes that these non-conference meets are vital toward building the Orangewomen’s reputation and confidence.

‘It would help, just by being able to beat the teams that are kind of just right above you,’ Schlosser said. ‘(These meets are) just as important as any Big East match.’

Published on February 27, 2003 at 12:00 pm