INDIANAPOLIS – IUPUI men's tennis coach
Brandon Currie announced the 2018 spring schedule on Tuesday (Dec. 5). The Jags schedule features four matches against teams that finished the 2017 season ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Top-50 Team Rankings.
The four matches against top-50 teams from last year are all on the road and will test the Jags who will play Kentucky (Feb. 2, No. 29 in 2017), Northwestern (Feb. 18, No. 22 in 2017), Purdue (March 4, No. 41 in 2017) and Notre Dame (March 25, No. 50 in 2017).
"We are excited to announce our 2018 spring Men's Tennis schedule. We are again competing against some of the best teams and competition around not only the Midwest, but the nation," said Currie. "Our demanding schedule will hopefully prepare us for the new challenges awaiting us in the Horizon League. We are thrilled to be the newest members of the Horizon League as this is a very deep and talented league with a lot of great teams. We understand there will be new challenges in front of us and we look forward to the opportunity to compete against these great programs."
Including the matches against Purdue and Notre Dame, the Jags will play four matches against in-state opponents – vs. Butler (March 4) and vs. Ball State (April 11).
The full schedule features 11 home matches and 13 road matches. The Jags will get 2018 started on the road on January 13 with a match at Michigan State. IUPUI's remaining non-conference road games are against Dayton (Jan. 21), Iowa (Feb. 11), Northern Illinois (Feb. 18), and St. Louis (Feb. 23). The non-conference home schedule includes the home opener against Belmont (Jan. 20), Eastern Illinois (Jan. 26), Lipscomb (Feb. 16), Austin Peay (Feb. 17), Chicago State (March 2) and Marquette (March 3).
The Jags' first year in the Horizon League begins on March 24 when IUPUI travels to Detroit Mercy. The Jags will play the next five conference matches on the road against Wright State (March 31), Northern Kentucky (April 1), UIC (April 7) and Green Bay (April 14). The only two home matches in the conference schedule for the Jags are the last two matches of the season against Cleveland State (April 21) and Youngstown State (April 22).
IUPUI's will play a season-high six-straight matches on the road from March 4 to April 7.
The Horizon League Tennis Tournament will be held in Chicago, Ill., from April 27 to April 29.
