The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/8/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ashley Pospisil A UConn tennis player returns a volley during the Huskies' match with Quinnipiac.

It was a tough day for UConn Saturday, and women's tennis wasn't spared. The Huskies lost four singles matches in three sets and were shutout, 7-0, by Pittsburgh. Although the score seemed like a blowout, it was really a heartbreaking loss for UConn. The next day West Virginia sent the Huskies back to Connecticut with a 5-2 loss. After the weekend's matches, UConn was 7-10 overall and 2-7 in the Big East.

The Huskies will hit the road again today and travel to New Jersey to face Rutgers. With only two more regular season matches left, the importance of this match is enormous for UConn.

"Rutgers is a very tough team that has played well all year," said assistant coach Kate Tellers. "I would expect us to come out and fight hard and compete and good things will happen for us."

The Scarlet Knights are an impressive 13-4 in the regular season with a 7-2 record in the Big East. They have become very hot of late, winning their last five matches, with four of those being in-conference. Rutgers has also beaten Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia. All of those teams have defeated UConn this season.

Sophomore Emily Herb will be returning to her home state today. The Garden State native has had a tough season, as she caught the injury bug early on. Herb was not able to play in a match until spring break after breaking her fifth metacarpal in her right hand. Needless to say, it has been a struggle for the right-hander.

"It has been tough academically as well as getting back to playing how I used to." Herb said. "After coming back my biggest struggle has been mentally believing that I can do it again. Lately I have been second-guessing myself and not believing that I can be the player I used to be."

In Herb's last eight matches, she is 5-3 in singles. Although she admits she is not playing up to her personal standards, she is more concerned about the team's record.

"My biggest concern is to help my teammates," Herb said. "Each one of them works so hard and I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to help us win matches."

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