Despite any NCAA Championship matches that may await them, the men's and women's tennis teams are not looking past the final weekend of the regular season.
The Tigers are hoping to make strong statements Saturday when they conclude the regular season at home against Washington University-St. Louis.
For the men, the results of Saturday's contest could have important NCAA Championship implications. A win or close loss against the sixth-ranked Bears could improve DePauw's chances of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Tigers (17-6) are currently listed at No. 17 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national rankings.
Trinity University claimed the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the championships after defeating DePauw 6-3, in the SCAC Championship match on April 24.
"In the SCAC tournament, we all played pretty well," said senior Hunter Schouweiler. "We fought really hard in singles and doubles, so we've just been working on a few technical things – tactics, smarter shots."
While the team has already made great strides this season, especially given its relative youth, Schouweiler says the importance of Saturday's match against Wash. U. is not lost on the Tigers.
"It's going to be tough for everybody knowing that it's kind of a must-win," he said. "At the same time, I think [head] coach [Scott Riggle] has really stressed that we've just got to play within our ability and not look too far into the future."
Meanwhile, the 17th-ranked women most recently captured their fourth-straight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title after defeating Sewanee: The University of the South in the championship match on April 24. While that win helped DePauw secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, the team still wants to close the regular season with a win.
After the Tigers swept the doubles points in each of their three SCAC tournament matches, senior Janelle Arita said the team hopes to carry that strong doubles play into Saturday's match.
"That was the key for us to win our match against Sewanee because it was really important that we got off to a good start in doubles," Arita said. "Hopefully we can continue that against Wash U. and get a good lead."
With the field for the NCAA Championships set to be released next week, Arita says the Tigers can focus their attention solely on the regular season finale against No. 15 Wash U. Saturday.
"We're still working and improving in preparation for the Wash U. match. After that, we'll start thinking about nationals," she said.
The men will face Washington-St. Louis at 9 a.m. Saturday at Blackstock Courts, while the women will play the Bears at noon.