Fresno State Athletics
2009-10 Men's Tennis Schedule Announced
8/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Aug. 24, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. -- Fresno State men's tennis coach Jay Udwadia released the 2009-10 schedule, which currently includes nine teams ranked in the Top 45 Final 2008-09 ITA Tennis Rankings and will likely feature at least three more at the Blue Gray Classic.
The Red Wave will have ample opportunity to watch their 'Dogs with 12 home matches, as well as, hosting a fall tournament and the WAC Championships in the spring. Fresno State hosts three conference matches and nine non-conference matches, seven of which are against in-state schools.
Fresno State travels to College Station, Texas, to face Texas A&M for the first qualifying round of National Team Indoors. Depending on the result of that match, the Bulldogs face either Oklahoma State or Rice in the second round.
The 'Dogs also have marquee in-state dual matches on the road against the Pac-10's California and perennially-Top 25 Pepperdine. Both schools earned NCAA Tournament berths last season. Pepperdine, the defending West Coast Conference Champions, is coming off a 20-win season and was ranked No. 18 in the 2009 ITA Tennis Final Rankings. The Bears were ranked No. 40 in the final rankings.
Once again, the Bulldogs travel to Montgomery, Ala., to participate in the prestigious Blue Gray Invitational - a dual match tournament featuring some of the top teams in college tennis. Last season Fresno State went 2-1 at the tournament.
Fresno State makes a second road trip to the lone star state in late March to square off against the Big 12's Texas Tech and the Mountain West's TCU. Both schools earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament and TCU finished the season ranked No. 38 and Texas Tech was No. 39. Fresno State first plays TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 28 and two days later travel to Lubbock, Texas, to take on Texas Tech.
The fall season begins with the Wave Invitational in Malibu, Calif., Sept. 18-20. In October Fresno State competes in three separate tournaments, starting with the annual Bulldog Classic Oct. 2-4 at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center. Select Bulldogs will compete in the ITA All-American in Tulsa, Okla., from Oct. 5-11. The 'Dogs final competition of the month will be at ITA Northwest Regional in Berkeley, Calif., Oct. 16-19.
Fresno State gets a quick start to the conference season by hosting a WAC doubleheader against Nevada and Idaho on Jan. 23 for its season and home opener.
The 'Dogs welcome Boise State to the Wathen Tennis Center on Feb. 21. Fresno State is 12-7 all-time against the Broncos, but the schools have the split the last two meetings. Last season the Broncos went 6-0 in the WAC regular season, advanced to the WAC Championship match, earned a berth in the NCAA Sweet 16 and finished the season ranked No. 20 in the nation.
Also on the conference schedule, defending WAC Champions Hawai'i will host the 'Dogs on April 2 and the next day Fresno State faces Utah State in Hawai'i. The Bulldogs conclude the conference regular season by traveling to Las Cruces, N.M., to face New Mexico State on April 18.
Fresno State hosts the WAC Tournament April 29-May 2, for the first time since 2001.
The non-conference home dual matches include California schools Pacific, Santa Clara, San Francisco, UC Irvine, Cal Poly, Sacramento State and San Diego. MWC Champion New Mexico visits the Wathen Tennis Center on March 14 and regional rival UNLV visits on February 28.
"We Are Your Team" - The Bulldogs are gearing up to open their season on Sept. 25 at the Waves Invitational in Malibu, Calif.. For all the up to date information on Fresno State men's tennis stay logged on to gobulldogs.com.
