SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Santa Clara women's tennis team hosts San Jose State at 11 a.m. on Sun., Feb. 1 for their second weekend of spring play.  The crosstown rivals come to the Degheri Tennis Center facing a Santa Clara team fresh off two powerful wins.

"Last weekend was a good start; we did what we wanted to do," said head coach Ben Cabell on the team's triumphs over Academy of Art and Sonoma State on Jan. 24.  "We passed our first test and this is the next one."

But the Broncos won't be getting lackadaisical sitting at a 2-0 record.  "San Jose State is going to be a different level of play," added Cabell.  "We played a lot of their players in the fall and they're going to be really good.  It's going to be a very close match one way or the other."

Santa Clara took home the dual win last year, defeating the Spartans in a tight 4-3 match in March of 2014.  Members of both teams have faced each other earlier in the 2014-15 season, most recently at the Spartan Invitational hosted by San Jose State from Nov. 7-9, 2014. 

Both teams bring to the court a mix of experience and youth.  Half of San Jose State's squad are underclassmen, while five of eight Broncos are either freshmen or sophomores.

More interestingly in common are the diverse geographic backgrounds that have come together at San Jose State and Santa Clara.  Three-quarters of San Jose State's team is from either Europe or South America.  Over half of the Bronco team hails from outside of the United States.  They represent five continents: North America (Elaine Chesoni, Chelby Cooke, Riley Morgan and Daniella Silva), South America (Nabila Farah), Europe (Delphine Rouvillois), Asia (Danielle Zinn) and Africa (Zeina El Tawil).  Rather than a divisive factor, these differences are able to bring them together.

"The girls came up with the word 'ohana,' which means 'family,'" said Cabell.  "They can bond and play for each other, especially with the new group.  It's good for them because they're from all over the world and right now this is their family."

This weekend will be a demonstration in how the Bronco family can start to put it all together. 

"The goal is to start off strong and hopefully get better," said Cabell on the season that recently got underway.  "This season is going to be about improving all the way through."

Following San Jose State, Santa Clara plays its next four matches at the Degheri Tennis Center as well.  And the team might as well take advantage of its home court play, starting with the Spartans.  Cabell puts it simply, "We're looking to play hard and give ourselves a chance to win."

Check back with the SCU women's tennis team on Twitter, Facebook and SantaClaraBroncos.com.

Go Broncos!