Today, Binghamton University’s women’s tennis team heads to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens to compete in the USTA National Tennis Center’s Men’s College Tennis Invitational. The event features a number of teams that have excelled in the Northeast region coming together to face off over the weekend.

The competition in Queens promises to be fierce as it is scheduled to feature Boston College, Syracuse University, Boston University, Harvard University, Army, Cornell University, Binghamton and Long Island University. Boston College was ranked No. 75 in the country on March 24. Boston University has won the America East title 15 seasons in a row. Syracuse and Harvard both beat Binghamton, 6-1 and 5-2 respectively last season. Long Island University is the defending Northeast Conference champion this season. Cornell and Army are successful programs as well.

The Bearcats were 17-4 last season and reached the America East conference finals, where they fell to Boston 4-1. While the competition this weekend will be strong, they welcome it.

“I think it’s great for the team,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Stevens of the tough teams scheduled for this weekend. “The better the competition, the more prepared we can be for the spring season. We try to make the schedule more competitive every year so that we can continue to get better.”

The Bearcats understand that, with the opposition being so strong at the USTA Invitational, they will need to perform at a high level if they want to have a successful weekend.

“Last year’s event was highly competitive with some excellent schools and this year’s figures to be the same,” said sophomore Marina Bykovskaya. “We need to play tough and be bold. We are not intimidated and welcome the strong competition.”

So far, the Bearcats have posted strong results in their fall season. The team has a 30-16 singles record and 6-3 doubles record over the course of two events: the Cornell and Army Invitationals.

“The fall is going well,” said senior Danyelle Shapiro. “Everyone is working hard and trying to make their weaknesses into strengths … Everyone has been learning a lot and what each person needs in terms of support from each other.”

Despite some early triumphs, however, the Bearcats understand that the high level of competition this week poses a steep challenge.

“We’ve been working hard in practice and pushing ourselves,” said junior and top singles player Lauren Bates. “We need to continue to do that in order to be successful this weekend.”

Bykovskaya echoed similar sentiments to Bates’ in regards to how the team can ready itself for the upcoming event.

“The only thing you can do is practice, and when you’re tired, practice more!” she said.

With the USTA Invitational being the last event before the ITA East Regionals, a tournament where only certain players on each team get selected to participate, the Bearcats have one last chance as a complete team to play matches together before the fall season ends. Stevens is pleased with the way his team has performed so far this fall and is looking forward to the challenge ahead of his squad.

“In our last competition at Army [the team] did better than they did at Cornell. I think the team has gotten better. This will be a good test for us.”