After three straight home matches, the Terrapins tennis team is back on the road.

In their first road match since Feb. 2, the Terps will face No. 52 Virginia Commonwealth, their second ranked opponent in a week.

The Terps’ sole loss during their three-game home stand was against the nation’s then-No. 52 team, Columbia. And while the Terps have an above-.500 record at 4-3, the team has struggled against ranked opponents, losing to Boston College, Harvard and the Lions.

“We’re not playing the opponent. We’re not playing the name on the other side,” said coach Daria Panova. “We are playing tennis.”

This will be the Terps’ third road match of the season. They lost both of their past away matches to Boston College and Harvard.

This match could have some added significance, though. It could be outdoors, a venue the Terps haven’t faced since the spring season began. To prepare, the Terps spent Wednesday practicing outdoors instead of their usual routine of practicing indoors.

“Outdoors just is a little slower than indoors, and you have the wind, the sun, everything else that comes from the weather,” said senior Vroni Van Berlo, the team’s No. 1 singles player. “You just have to adjust more when you play outdoors.”

As the season progresses and the weather warms, the team will start playing more matches outdoors. And while the VCU (9-4) match might be a bit early for an outdoors match, it signals the final stretch of the Terps’ nonconference schedule. After the VCU match, the Terps have only three more nonconference games left. Six of their first seven opponents were out-of-conference foes.

The Terps’ next two matches after VCU are against ACC opponents, and 10 of their final 13 matches are against ACC competition.

“Richmond was the last team that was a little below the ACC level, so now VCU, if they would play in the ACC, they would probably be in the middle,” Van Berlo said. “So it’s a really good match to prepare for the ACC.”

It will also be a chance for players to solidify their place in the lineup, as Panova has made a few changes the past few weeks. The most recent change happened before the Richmond match. Freshman Sarah Gealer was moved up to the No. 2 singles position and joined Van Berlo on the team’s No. 1 doubles pairing.

“Columbia and Boston College, we had close matches with them, but we fell a little short,” Gealer said. “But we could have beaten them, so I think that just gives us confidence that we can do well against VCU too.”

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