Sept. 15, 2008
SAN DIEGO - The SDSU men's tennis team announced its 2008-09 schedule Monday afternoon. The Aztecs begin the fall season with a series of tournaments on the road which will lead into a busy spring season full of competition against 2008 NCAA tournament participants.
SDSU begins its season this month in the USTA Futures Qualifying tournament in Irvine, Calif., on Sept. 18-21, with another set for the following weekend in Laguna Nigel, Calif., on Sept. 25-28. This October, select Aztec players will compete on the road in the Bulldog Classic (Oct. 3-5) in Fresno, Calif. and others will compete in the All-American Collegiate Classic (Oct. 3-5). The Aztecs will participate in the ITA Regional Championships (Oct. 16-19) in Malibu, Calif., and then travel to the University of Virginia for the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships tournament (Nov. 6-9) to end play for the fall.
In 2009, the Aztecs begin the year at home against UC Riverside on Jan. 21 and then face USC, a participant in last year's NCAA tournament, at home on Jan. 23. The Aztecs will compete in the ITA Kick-Off Tournament Jan. 31- Feb. 1, where they will face Georgia Tech in Waco, Texas. Earlier this year San Diego State was among 60 men's tennis programs that took part in the inaugural Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Draft, which determined the teams for the 2008-09 ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The Championships will take place in Chicago, Ill., on Feb. 13-16, and if the Aztecs defeat the Yellow Jackets, they will meet the winner of the Baylor-Utah match the following day for the right to advance to Chicago.
SDSU will continue its preseason at home against UC Irvine on Feb. 19 and then travel to Fresno, Calif., where they will face Fresno State (Feb. 27) and Northwestern (Feb. 28.) The Aztecs will then come back to San Diego to play in the Pacific Coast Doubles in La Jolla, Calif., on March 5-8. From there the Aztecs will have a week-long home-stand against Georgia State (March 12), Texas Tech (March 13), a 2008 NCAA tournament participant, and finish with Minnesota and Nevada in a doubleheader on March 15.
Following the home-stand, the Aztecs will travel to the Rice Invitational in Houston, Texas, on March 20-22. The Aztecs will face Harvard, another NCAA 2008 tournament participant, at home on March 25 before beginning the Mountain West Conference regular season. The Aztecs will begin conference play on the road in Colorado Springs, where they will face UNLV (March 27), New Mexico (March 28), and Air Force (March 29.)
The Aztecs begin the month of April with an away match in Malibu, Calif., where they will face another NCAA tournament participant, Pepperdine, on April 2. SDSU will then stay at home for the rest of the regular season beginning with UCSB on April 4, BYU on April 9, and NCAA tournament participant TCU on April 10. The Aztecs finish their MWC regular season at home versus Utah on April 11.