According to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, the Northwestern women’s tennis team was only the 14th best among the 16 teams competing in the ITA National Indoor Championships this weekend in Madison, Wis.

Ask Southern California and Fresno State, and they’ll beg to differ.

The No. 17 Wildcats (5-2) recovered from a closely contested first-round loss to No. 4 Vanderbilt on Thursday to shock No. 7 Southern California 4-3 on Friday. NU followed with another upset the next day – this time a 4-3 win over No. 9 Fresno State.

It might as well have been called “payback weekend” for the Cats, losers to Southern California and Fresno State in dual matches last year. Southern California eliminated the Cats from last year’s NCAA tournament in the Round of 16.

“It was especially nice to come back and beat both of them,” senior Simona Petrutiu said. “It shows that we have improved, even though we lost some players.”

Petrutiu, in the No. 5 singles spot, went 3-0 in the tournament. She has now won five straight matches after starting the season 0-2.

But the missed opportunity against the Commodores bothered her.

“It’s tough,” Petrutiu said. “Because we definitely could have beaten (Vanderbilt).”

Another NU player who went the weekend unscathed was No. 3 singles Jessica Rush, who ran her singles record to 7-0. Rush, ranked No. 95 nationally, won the clinching match in the Southern California contest by upsetting No. 46 Anita Loyola, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.

Rush’s clincher Friday was the climax of a dual match that took six hours and 45 minutes.

The Cats took the first point against the Trojans, as the sophomore tandem of Stacy Kokx and Ruth Barnes clinched the doubles point with a 9-7 victory. Although No. 1 singles Marine Piriou, No. 2 singles Lia Jackson and No. 4 singles Andrea Yung lost their matches, straight sets victories by Petrutiu and Barnes were enough to set up Rush’s clincher for a 4-3 victory.

Though the following day’s match against Fresno State wasn’t as long, it was just as hard-fought and emotional.

NU stumbled out of the gates against the Bulldogs, losing all three doubles matches to fall behind 1-0.

To add to the deficit, Jackson and Yung completed their less-than-stellar weekends with straight sets losses. Both players went 0-3 for the tournament.

But the Cats buckled down to finish off the Bulldogs, sparked by a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (5) victory by No. 9 Piriou over No. 14 Kim Niggemeyer.

“I was trailing a lot throughout the entire match,” Piriou said. “But I fought hard and with a lot of heart.”

Piriou, who had lost her matches against Vanderbilt and Southern California, used her latest triumph to spill a sea of emotion.

“I was ready to jump over the net and kiss the coach,” an elated Piriou said. “I was so pumped up after the match, and all my teammates were with me.”

The Cats clinched the victory over Fresno State with yet another strong singles performance from Barnes, playing in the No. 6 spot. She followed her straight sets victory the previous morning by dominating Kelly Ramirez for a 6-3, 6-0 victory, capping a weekend in which the Cats upended two top-10 teams.

And after Vanderbilt ended up in second for the tournament, NU’s confidence is soaring.

“The more we play, the more we are getting better,” Piriou said. “We are now definitely a top-10 team.”