Following a triumphant return from their opener in San Diego this past Sunday, the reigning Big Sky champion women’s tennis team is preparing for an unprecedented road trip that will have them playing three prestigious East Coast universities on three consecutive days.

The Hornets, ranked No. 38 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, will play No. 75-ranked Boston College on Friday, Brown University on Saturday, and finish with a showdown against No. 19-ranked Harvard University on Sunday.

Although winning the Big Sky Conference yields an automatic entry into the NCAA tournament at season’s end, staying atop the ITA rankings attracts better competition. Not only might the team’s rank increase with a win over ranked competition, but the players will be playing progressively tougher opponents, and in turn getting better themselves.

Instead of just the necessary need to play higher-ranked opponents in order to increase the team’s own ranking, coach Bill Campbell explains that as far as Harvard is concerned, this time there’s more to it than meets the eye.

“We have a girl (Preethi Mukundan, junior, Folsom native, and the only ranked player on the team) from our tennis academy who plays for Harvard,” Campbell said. “She’s a close family friend, and I really wanted to go play her. She grew up in our academy, and my wife has taken her to many tournaments across the country.”

Campbell commented that beyond his connection with Mukundan, the scheduling is still a part of his continuing plan to attract more quality competition.

“It’s part of my strategy to have them play us when they’re out here. Harvard usually comes out at least every other year, and Boston College every now and then. So it’s a kind of reciprocation that we try to go and play them.”

Senior Margarita Karnaukhova is last year’s Big Sky MVP, and along with junior Cecilia Helland, the only returning veteran. Coming back from a recurring back problem that has plagued her as recently as last season’s end, she’s still fearless, but believes the trip will be a good test for the six new freshman that have joined the team.

“It’s not going to be the importance of who it is that we’re playing. Because we’re a new team, every match is going to be important,” Karnaukhova said. “They need to get that confidence that yes, we can do it, we know how to beat anybody.”

Cecilia Helland knows from experience that it can be tough to stay healthy, let alone motivated, through a grueling three-day match marathon. Last year, she was injured in the third match of a three-in-three-day schedule.

“It’s really hard to play three days in a row, especially against teams like that. I don’t think that it’s a very good setup, but on the other hand, we have to play these teams,” Helland said.

The girls are coming off an impressive 5-2 season-opening victory over 64th-ranked San Diego on Sunday. Campbell was proud of the girls, several of whom earned the very first victories of their young collegiate careers.

“They were tough matches, we had to play well to win, and we did.”

Josh Terrell can be reached at [email protected]