Chicago appears to have picked up momentum as it heads into its final few matches of the regular season.  After winning its past few matches against Cal Lutheran and Kalamazoo, the team hopes to keep this momentum going all the way up to the NCAA tournament.

But it must first focus on its imminent match against the Case Western Spartans.

“After a big win over Cal Lu during spring break and a win against Kalamazoo, we have a lot of momentum and positive energy going into this big weekend, where we will play two tough UAA rivals, Case and Wash U, along with Coe College,” second-year Gordon Zhang said.

As its regular season nears its end, Chicago has begun to recognize the important aspects of its game more and more.

“This weekend, as a team, we plan on really focusing on what we can control; in other words, we don’t know how windy it will be, how well our opponents might play, etc., but what we can do is try to play our best under whatever circumstances may arise,” third-year Ankur Bhargava said.

The squad has been preparing hard for the coming matches, and believes it has found exactly what it needs to focus on in order to continue its winning streak: improving its doubles.

“I think the biggest thing we took out from the Kalamazoo match is how important the doubles points are,” Zhang said.  “After going up 3–0 in doubles, it allowed everyone on our team to play loose and filled with confidence going into singles.”

The team intends to continue to ignite such confidence during its match this weekend.

“We have been working a lot on doubles and movement on the court to prepare for this weekend,” Zhang said. “The team has been going to the training room a lot to feel as best as possible for this weekend, and it is important that we continue to prepare our bodies as best as possible.”

Even with this group improvement in its sights, Chicago has also been focusing on each member’s individual goals.

Zhang himself wants to focus mainly on doubles in order to improve his overall game.

“Ever since I walked on campus as [a] freshman, I believe I have made great strides in my doubles game, and I want to be the best doubles player I can be when I walk onto court on Friday against Case,” Zhang said. “For singles, this season I have been pretty inconsistent. I have had some solid wins and some bad losses, but I have learned a lot from my losses. I will continue to grind on the court and play smart, solid tennis, which will be the factors to my success for the rest of the season.”

Bhargava, alternatively, is focusing on something more personal.

“I am really trying to improve my