The Georgetown women’s tennis team (2-4, 0-2 Big East) will face off against Cincinnati (1-9, 1-1 Big East) in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. on Saturday.

The Blue and Gray are fresh off a close win over the James Madison Dukes at home last weekend. The Hoyas tied the Dukes in singles play but overcame them in doubles play to clinch the 4-3 victory. It was a welcome result for a team that had managed to hold its own in losses against national tennis powerhouses like Virginia Commonwealth University and DePaul earlier in the spring season.

On the other side of the court, Cincinnati has lost nine of its first 10 matches of the season. The Bearcats do not have as much to be optimistic about, as their closest loss came by a score of 5-2. However, in their sole win this season, the Bearcats blew out Seton Hall, 7-0.

“They’re a team like us,” Head Coach Gordie Ernst said. “[They’ve] been on the bubble in the past of either making the [Big East] tournament or not, it’s just that they’ve made the tournament more than we have.”

This season, both Cincinnati and Georgetown have lost to Syracuse. However, the Orange dominated the Bearcats, who lost quite a few sets by scores of 6-3 or 6-2. On the other hand, the Hoyas held their own against their rivals from New York, forcing multiple tiebreaker sets and winning two out of three matches in doubles play.

Both teams have experience playing nationally ranked teams this season. The Hoyas faced off against No. 48 DePaul, and the Bearcats traveled to Bloomington to take on No. 37 Indiana. While the Hoyas were able to prevent a shutout and truly make it difficult for DePaul, the Bearcats were unable to win a match against Indiana.

“If [Lauren] Greco played against DePaul, I think we [would’ve] won that match,” Ernst said.

However, the Bearcats do have a few players that could give Georgetown a bumpy ride this weekend. Senior Ksenia Slynko has been a dominant force this season, often playing first singles. Although her record this season hasn’t been as stellar as in previous years, she has been able to force close games against some of the top players in the nation. Another worthy mention is sophomore Jasmine Lee; often the number two singles player this season, Lee has demonstrated her capacity to play at the most elite levels of tennis. Against much stronger teams, Lee has been able to force tiebreakers and come back from first-set losses.

“In doubles, we continue to work on our volleys and playing at the net,” Ernst said. “We’re still trying to get these players who haven’t done it to do better at the net, so we can win the doubles point against Cincinnati.”

As for the players themselves, graduate student and captain Stephanie Wetmore showed a return to form last weekend. As Georgetown’s first singles player, Wetmore has been an effective team leader on and off the court throughout the season

Along with Wetmore are several younger players that have been tested this season. Sophomore Vicky Sekely prevented a Syracuse shutout with her singles win and could easily be a thorn in the side of the Bearcats. Similarly, freshmen Tina Tehrani and Maddie Jaeger have shown that they can hold their own against much more experienced players. With such a lineup, the Hoyas will not make anything easy for the Bearcats this weekend.