Hoping to build off an outstanding performance in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on March 14, the Irish will travel to East Lansing Saturday to challenge No. 7 Michigan State.
The Irish will conclude the weekend by taking on Indiana and Purdue in Indianapolis, Ind. Sunday. Both teams are perennial contenders for the national title.
"We have a very good team that is going to get a lot better," Irish head coach Martin Stone told UND.com.
The Irish faced the Spartans in two varsity eight races in Tennessee but lost both with open water.
The team also matched up with Boston University and No. 6 Virginia. Led by coxswain Kelsey Otero and senior captains Christine Trezza and Lauren Buck, the first varsity eight boat won the opening race for the Irish by defeating BU by a margin of one seat.
The Irish didn't look back, as the second varsity eight crew cruised to a victory over the Terriers, winning the five-minute piece by an open water victory.
"I thought the [varsity] fours did a fantastic job and the novices also did very well," Stone said.
Despite their early success, the Irish left the waters with a bitter taste in their mouths due to the losses to the Spartans as well as two losses to Virginia.
But the Irish will have a chance to redeem themselves this weekend in their rematch against the Spartans.
Stone said he believes his team is showing poise and resilience as the season progresses.
"Overall, I think we had a good training week," Stone said. "We are still working on evolving our lineups. All three schools (we faced) were ranked in the preseason top 20 poll that was released last week. I told the team that although we are not ranked going into the season that we will have ample opportunity to race against the ranked crews."
