Coach Kelcy McKenna has a saying that she uses with her University of Wisconsin women's tennis players to encourage their growth: Try to be what you can't see yet.
Two years ago, what McKenna and the Badgers couldn't see yet was a team that climbed from the depths of a program-worst season to execute a dramatic turnaround.
In 2017, they finished 4-16 in dual meets — the fewest UW victories in 42 years of record keeping — and 0-11 in Big Ten Conference play in McKenna's first year leading the team. Last spring brought only marginal improvement in the records: 9-14 and 3-8.