Women’s tennis has defeated UMKC and Saint Louis University two years in a row. The last time they faced Illinois State University, in 2005, Kansas escaped with a 4-3 victory.

With all three of those teams playing this weekend in Kansas’ home tournament, the squad has reason to be confident.

“It’s a good tournament to play lots of matches and hopefully we come out in first place,” coach Amy Hall-Holt said.

This is the first event for the Jayhawks since the fall season opener Sept. 11-13 in Wilmington, N.C., which freshman Sara Lazarevic called extremely tough.

“Coach said that this tournament should be a little easier than the last one in Wilmington,” Lazarevic said. “We’ve been working hard in practice, so we all have the expectation to do really well.”

She said she hopes to use this weekend’s match experience to better prepare for the main season in the spring.

A little easier still doesn’t guarantee a high finish, though.

According to senior Kuni Dorn, it all depends on the day and everyone still has to come out and be prepared to work their hardest.

“Maybe it’ll be easier, but you never know,” Dorn said.

Kansas’ opponents enter the fall season after finishing in low spots last spring within their respective conferences — with the exception of Illinois State. The Redbirds finished in fourth place in the Missouri Valley Conference. UMKC finished seventh in the Summit League and Saint Louis took 11th in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Despite last year’s outcomes, coach Hall-Holt expects every member of the team to come out and compete hard. The Jayhawk squad hasn’t played for almost two weeks, so practices have been preparation intensive.

“We’ve been working a lot on consistency, especially in doubles,” said Lazarevic, who will pair up this weekend with sophomore Ekaterina Morozova.

Some, though, have focused more on their individual goals. Dorn said she has been working on improving her anticipation and movement with hopes of implementing a more offensive game, rather than being stuck on the defensive end of points.

After that 12-day break, players now have a chance to put their training into action.

Play begins at 9 a.m. today at First Serve in Lawrence, and will continue at the same time Saturday and Sunday.

— — Edited by Abby Olcese