The Americans defeated the foreigners Sunday. But by Thursday, the tables had turned.

While the Northwestern women’s tennis team defeated a lineup of foreign-born players Sunday against Baylor, the foreigners got their revenge this week.

In soccer.

Taking a break from the courts, No. 11 NU (15-4, 5-1 Big Ten) reinstated a weekly tradition that had been neglected since January by playing the world’s game.

“Some say it is just conditioning, but we don’t take it lightly,” Lia Jackson said. “My shoes were muddy – I had to leave them outside my door.

“We’re fighting for our lives in this game and running after every ball. We love being competitive and there are a lot of parallels with tennis. We work just as hard as we would in a tennis match.”

The soccer games are designed to be played toward the end of the week to wind down the conditioning regimen in practice.

The three-month soccer drought was a result of time constraints and a need for added tennis practice.

Jackson said the regular teams are upperclassmen against underclassmen, with the upperclassmen normally prevailing.

But this week they decided to try something different: Americans versus