BYU Back on the Road Against Wisconsin and Northwestern

PROVO -- The No. 36 BYU women's tennis team will get no rest from a hard road trip to nationally-ranked teams when it hits the road for yet another tough couple of matches. BYU will take on Wisconsin Friday and No. 17 Northwestern Saturday one week after falling to South Carolina and Georgia.

"Both matches are going to be tough, but we're playing competitive tennis right now," BYU head coach Craig Manning said. "We almost snuck a couple of games away from Georgia, so we're playing well."

BYU has been hit hard with challenges off the court so far this season as well. Brooke Beverley and Lindsay Ferrell have both dealt with injuries. The team is still getting to know each other with new players coming in at the semester break. But Manning knows the Cougars will only grow from the struggles of the early season.

"We've had a lot of challenges off the court," Manning said. "These matches on the road and the challenges will help us later in the season."

BYU dropped one spot in the national rankings after last week's tough losses on the road. The Cougars hope to rebound against a top 20 team, Northwestern, and a No. 73 team, Wisconsin, on its home court.

"When you play better players, you get better," Manning said. "All of this will help us get tougher."

The Cougars will take the next week off after two straight weeks on the road. BYU will go back to the Midwest the next week, facing Purdue and Notre Dame on Feb. 16 and 18, respectively.