Tech tennis pulls back curtain on spring slate with 21 regular season matches on tap
The start of a new calendar year means the birth of another Tennessee Tech tennis spring season is well within reach.
Click here to view 2019 spring schedule
By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The start of a new calendar year means the birth of another Tennessee Tech tennis spring season is well within reach.
Head coach Kenny Doyle has unveiled a 21-match regular-season schedule, one that features a wealth of sturdy non-conference competition, five home matches and action in seven different states. With eyes on a fourth straight OVC Tournament title and sixth regular-season crown in the last eight years, the Golden Eagles begin the four-month madness on Saturday, Jan. 19 with a matchup at Drake, the first of three consecutive days on the courts in Des Moines, Iowa.
After tangling with the Bulldogs in the 2019 opener, Tech will connect with Northern Illinois on Sunday, Jan. 20, before closing out its three-day stay in Iowa with a Monday, Jan. 21 battle against Illinois State. The opening weekend helps pull back the curtain on what has the potential to be a challenging array of non-conference competition for the Golden Eagles.
Drake is one of three NCAA Tournament teams from 2018 that Tech will see this season, highlighted by a Feb. 10 matchup at Wake Forest, the defending national champion, which will also end a 20-day hiatus in between matches for Tech following the club's first three clashes of the year in Iowa. The last in the trio of NCAA Tournament teams from 2018 will see the purple and gold head to Knoxville for their annual affair at the University of Tennessee in the final non-conference match on Apr. 5.
The season-opening weekend in Des Moines also features three of 12 matches against teams with at least a .500 record from a season ago.
After TTU connects with Wake Forest on Feb. 10, the Golden Eagles head to the Sunshine State for three matches in two days down in Boca Raton, Fla. Tech will meet Stetson and Florida Atlantic on Feb. 16, before locking up with DePaul on Feb. 17.
TTU's first of five home matches will take place on Mar. 1 against Lipscomb, the first of three straight days in action. The Golden Eagles are at Chattanooga on Mar. 2 and then return home to greet Troy on Mar. 3 in Cookeville.
After away matches at Samford (Mar. 8), UAB (Mar. 9) and Kennesaw State (Mar. 20), Tennessee Tech opens up OVC play with a Mar. 23 home affair against Belmont. The battle with the Bruins will serve as a matchup between the top two teams in the conference from a season ago, as Belmont won the regular season with an unblemished 6-0 conference mark, while TTU posted a 5-1 OVC record. The Golden Eagles would get the last laugh though after downing Belmont in the OVC Tournament championship match to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Tech's final two home matches are against Eastern Illinois on Mar. 30 and Tennessee State on Apr. 19. The Golden Eagles round out their five-match OVC slate with road contests at Austin Peay on Apr. 7 and at Jacksonville State on Apr. 13.
The OVC Tournament is scheduled for Apr. 26-28 in Nashville.
Admission to all home matches at Tech Tennis Courts is free of charge.
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
