The Iowa women’s tennis team is back on road this weekend, preparing to face Notre Dame and Northwestern following a quick home sweep last weekend against Marquette and Bradley. The Hawkeyes will play Notre Dame in South Bend at 11 a.m. March 3 and Northwestern in Evanston at noon March 4.

This weekend will be the most important yet for the Hawkeyes, because both Notre Dame and Northwestern are quietly having impressive seasons. Notre Dame sits at 6-2, while Northwestern is 6-3, with both coming in hot on winning streaks. Not to mention Iowa hasn’t always had the best luck against these two.

The Fighting Irish and Wildcats have lopsided leads all-time against the Hawkeyes, Notre Dame at 19-1 and Northwestern at 44-2, with the Hawkeyes’ last victory against each coming in the 1990s. With Big Ten play just two weeks away, the Hawkeyes will try to gain as much confidence as they can before the conference battles begin.

Senior Anastasia Reimchen realizes the importance of the nonconference matches, knowing that they are the building blocks to the ultimate goal of winning the Big Ten.

“We build confidence on these nonconference games, and these ones coming up will be very challenging,” Reimchen said. “I think if we do well in them, we will have a lot more confidence going into the Big Ten and have a good chance of doing well this year.”

But the Hawkeyes aren’t worried about other teams and their players — even the great ones like Notre Dame’s Ally Bojczuk, who is 11-1 in singles play. Assistant coach Daniel Leitner has the Hawkeyes focusing on themselves, striving to get better every day without worrying about their opponents.

“For us, we believe it comes down to us and what we do,” Leitner said. “We don’t really look too much at the opponent until the match. Then we might make some specific in-game adjustments.”

If confidence and believing in oneself are key ingredients for the Hawkeyes’ success, then they are going to need them both at home and on the road. The Hawkeyes are outstanding at home so far, 4-0. Meanwhile, on the road, it’s far from the same story. The Hawkeyes are just 2-2 on the road and very well could be on their way to a losing road record this weekend.

Nonetheless, senior standout Zoe Douglas is ready for the challenge ahead, and she expects different results on the road compared with how things have been going so far.

“We have been building confidence, and going forward, we are just waiting for the pennant to drop and just take it to them,” Douglas said. “We will just keep challenging our opponents, and one day, it’s going to turn, and we are going to dominate and get the win.”