Posted: 2/18/05 Section: Sports

Illinois´ Cynthya Goulet returns a serve against Wake Forest Jan. 28.

The goal for the women's tennis team this weekend is for each player to improve their game by five percent.
The 35th-ranked Illini look to get back on track after dropping their third match of the season to No. 18 Harvard last weekend, falling to 4-3 on the season. They host No. 59 Colorado tonight at 6 and No. 48 Western Michigan Sunday at 11.
Head coach Sujay Lama said the Illini found out how they match up against top competition in last Saturday's 6-1 loss.
"They exposed our weaknesses," Lama said. "We worked on improving our focus and concentration in this week's practice. We feel if everybody can improve just five percent, then that's a big boost to the team. We need everybody to step up their game."
Lama identified execution as one weakness the team needs to improve on.
"Probably the main thing our players need to work on is getting that killer instinct," Lama said. "A number of times this season, they have started strong, but haven't finished well. They're doing a lot of the right things, tactically, but too often, after we set up the points, we don't keep our focus and put them away. As a result, we've lost some individual matches that we shouldn't have, and that puts even more pressure on the other players that are still on the courts."
Although the Illini have hit a few bumps, they continue to improve.
"We're learning how to grow and get better as a team," said freshman Macall Harkins. "We are just focusing on our goals; winning the doubles point, our individual stuff, and just coming out and playing as hard as we can."
Colorado comes into Friday's match riding a four-game winning streak. The Buffaloes lost 4-3 at No. 48 Wisconsin on Jan. 29, but since then defeated Marquette, No. 68 Washington State, No. 54 Tulsa and Oklahoma State. They are led by No. 76 Lynzee Kever, who will likely pair up against Illini senior Cynthya Goulet at the No. 1 spot in the line up. In doubles, the Buffaloes boast the 52nd-ranked duo of Kendra Strandemo and Jessica Vanderdys.
After Friday's match, the women face Western Michigan. The Illini are familiar with the Broncos. Over the fall season, the Illini split 10 individual singles matches at the Bronco Invitational in September against them. The Broncos are 5-1 and have knocked off two Big Ten opponents, Ohio State on Jan. 29 and No. 45 Purdue on Feb. 8.

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