Last year, winning on the road was no easy task for the women’s tennis team. They finished a dismal 1-6 away from Seattle, and head coach Jill Hultquist was left looking for ways to improve.

She can’t be disappointed, however, with the way things have turned out this year.

The No. 36 Huskies, thanks to some added depth, have stepped up their game on the road this season. With a 7-0 sweep of No. 42 San Diego State Friday and a 6-1 victory over No. 54 San Diego Saturday, the Dawgs improved to 14-7 on the year and 11-4 on the road.

“I love knowing that whether we are at home or on the road, we are a good team,” Hultquist said.

All six players enjoyed success this weekend. Freshmen Samantha Smith and Denise Dy, two players key to this season’s success, picked up much-needed wins after struggling in past weeks.

Smith, who had lost three dual matches in a row, started at the No. 4 singles spot for the first time since the beginning of the season and benefitted from the lineup change.

“[Smith] performs really well there,” Hultquist said. “Getting some of her confidence going into the weekend and the regionals will be great for us.”

Dy, who also had been struggling as of late, came away with two confidence-boosting wins. The freshman, ranked No. 78 for singles, improved to 21-9 in singles play.

The UW has now defeated nine ranked opponents and with the two wins last weekend, the Huskies improve to 13-1 against nonconference opponents. They come home for their final matches this season against Washington State Saturday and Oregon Sunday.

The No. 21 men finished the weekend 1-1 after losing to No. 8 Stanford 6-1 yesterday. Seniors Patrik Fischer, Ryo Sekiguchi and David Chu played their final home dual match of their Husky careers in front of a supportive crowd.

“It was a tough moment to realize that their home careers are over,” said head coach Matt Anger. “But we still have a lot of tennis left, obviously, for this season.”

The Dawgs got a big 4-3 win against No. 37 Cal Saturday. After sweeping the doubles point, the UW won three more singles matches to seal the deal against the Bears.

“We know how strong they [Cal] are, so obviously we were pleased to get the win,” Anger said.

Sophomore Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, who missed last weekend’s matches because of an illness, teamed with Fischer for a doubles victory Saturday. But Nedunchezhiyan sat out the singles match Sunday against Stanford. Sekiguchi, who played No. 7 singles Saturday and did not compete, filled in Sunday for Nedunchezhiyan and picked up the Dawgs’ only singles point, beating Ted Kelly 6-3, 6-4.

Chu lost both days, and Fischer ended up 1-1 for the weekend after defeating Cal’s Eoin Heavey 6-3, 7-5. The Dawgs look ahead to next weekend, when they will finish up the regular season with a dual match against Oregon Saturday.

Reach reporter Taylor Soper at sports@dailyuw.com.