OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami University women's tennis team will be back on the road this weekend as the 'Hawks head to West Virginia for matches against Winthrop and Marshall.

The RedHawks will take on the Eagles at 1 p.m. on Saturday in a neutral site contest at Marshall, before facing the Thundering Herd on Sunday at 11 a.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Miami (4-4) split its two matches last weekend. The RedHawks fell on Friday evening to Xavier in an extremely close match, falling 4-3 in a contest that featured five of six singles matches going to three sets. The RedHawks got back into the winning column the next day as they hosted Western Kentucky, breezing past the Hilltoppers 4-0. Laura Rico and Milana Lysova both went 2-0 for Miami across the weekend.

SINGLES PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Rico earned Mid-American Conference singles player of the week for her undefeated showing at number one singles in Miami's matches against Xavier and WKU. She took down XU's Ahmeir Kyle in three sets Friday before a straight-set win over WKU's Cora-Lynn Von Dungern on Saturday. These two matches were Rico's debut at first singles and this is her first time winning the singles player of the week honor, although she has won MAC Doubles Team of the Week twice this season along with Brindtha Ramasamy.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Winthrop is 1-5 on the season heading into the weekend, earning their first win a week ago a week ago against Hampton. A difficult schedule to start the year saw the Eagles lose to strong ACC squads in Wake Forest and Virginia Tech as well as James Madison and William & Mary. The Eagles are led by Alisa Soloveva, currently ranked #88 in the nation with a 4-2 record at first singles. Winthrop will face Marshall on Friday evening.

SCOUTING THE THUNDERING HERD
Marshall is 7-4 this season, including victories over a common opponent in Dayton and a fellow MAC squad in Toledo. Most recently, the Herd dropped a 4-0 decision to Florida International. Anna Smith has spent the majority of the year at the top of the lineup for Marshall, holding a 5-4 record in dual play. Madison Bellow is Marshall's winningest player, holding an impressive 9-1 record, mostly at third singles.

SERIES HISTORY
The RedHawks and Eagles have only met three times, with Winthrop holding a 2-1 series advantage and having won the last meeting in 2017. Miami is just 8-18 all-time against Marshall, although Miami did take the last matchup 5-2 in 2018.

LOOKING AHEAD
Miami will be at Indiana next weekend for their final match before the start of Mid-American Conference play.