The opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the country doesn't come around often.
It might happen this weekend for the UNM men's tennis team and will definitely happen for the women's tennis team.
Both squads will hit the road this weekend to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Team Indoor Challenge.
The women will play No. 1 Northwestern on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Evanston, Ill. The men will need an upset over No. 30 Virginia Tech on Saturday if they want their crack at No. 1 Ohio State on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.
Women's head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz said playing in the 64-team tournament is an achievement. UNM is one of 31 schools to have its men's and women's programs competing in the event.
"It's a huge honor to even be included," Kolankiewicz said. "Usually, it's reserved for the top 16 teams in the country. This year, it was expanded to a format similar to the NCAA Tournament: a 64-team field hosted at 16 regional sites."
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Kolankiewicz said some of the nation's best tennis players don't get the opportunity to play in the competitive event.
"Our program hasn't been to the tournament since 2004, when they took the top team from each region," she said. "It will be great experience for everyone to compete against some of the nation's best players."
And there's no pressure being the underdogs, men's head coach Alan Dils said.
"I view this weekend as a win-win," he said. "If we win, we get a big win over a nationally ranked program. If we lose, we gain some valuable experience that we can carry with us into the rest of the season."
After wins against No. 55 Indiana and No. 62 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the men's team, ranked No. 41, is 2-0 entering this weekend.
Senior Graeme Kassautzki said the men's team is excited to see how it stacks up against other top teams.
"We'll get a pretty good indication of where we are as a team," he said. "It'll be great experience for the NCAAs, especially if we can knock off one or two higher-ranked teams."
The women's team, ranked No. 46, is 1-1 on the season after two 4-3 matches against then-No. 27 Louisiana State and then-No. 43 South Florida.
Senior Mackenzie White said the Lobos will give it their all no matter the opposition.
"I think we showed last weekend that we'll fight against anyone," she said. "It doesn't matter if you're ranked 15 or 20 spots higher. We're going to go out there and give it our all."
White said anything is possible.
"Upsets do happen," she said.
