This weekend the Fighting Irish women's tennis team will have its work cut out for them as the Notre Dame takes on Kentucky and Tennessee, two solid teams who will be looking to knock off the No. 7 Irish.

"Kentucky and Tennessee are always a tough road trip," said head coach Jay Louderback. "Both are very good teams who play well at home."

Junior Nina Vaughan knows the weekend trip to Appalachia provides a challenge.

"We have to respect that they are two very tough teams but we are confident in our abilities," said Vaughan. "We go into every match thinking that we can win."

It will be a difficult road trip for the Irish as they are traveling for the third week in a row. The team is on a four game winning streak will have to deal with hostile crowds and long bus trips this weekend but are confident that they can pull together and play well.

"Tennessee is a very tough place to play," said Vaughan, "the crowd is always rowdy and obnoxious but expecting that makes us all the more ready for it also makes us want to win more."

With eight games remaining before the Big East Tournament the Irish look to win out and go into the post season on a high note.

"Our goal as a team is to win the rest of our matches, it is very feasible to go the rest of the season undefeated," said Vaughan.

The team is on a roll after another undefeated weekend with wins against Miami and West Virginia down in Florida. The Irish improve their record to 14-3 with the impressive wins, losing only one singles match.

"I thought we did very well, it was a big adjustment to playing inside and outside but we did a good job," said junior Nina Vaughan after another great weekend.

Head coach Jay Louderback sees last weekend's performance as a positive step as the season winds down.

"The best match we played was Miami it was our first outdoor match and we played really well," said coach Louderback. "Everyone played well, Becky [Varnum] has been playing better and better as the spring has gone along, she has really stepped it up at number two and Nina Vaughan at three has played well for us."

The win against Miami is a big one for the Irish who split matches with them last year. The win puts them at the top of the Big East and in control as they get ready for the Big East Tournament in April.

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