Aug. 10, 2006
2006-07 Santa Clara Women's Tennis Schedule
2006-07 Santa Clara Men's Tennis Schedule
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's and women's tennis teams announced their schedules for the 2006-07 season today. The women open up the fall slate with a trip to Fresno to participate in the Bulldog Classic from Sept. 22-24, while the men begin their season on the Mission Campus, hosting the Santa Clara Bronco Classic at the Degheri Tennis Center from Oct. 6-8.
Coached by George Husack, who enters his fifth season in charge of the men's tennis team, the Broncos will play in four tournaments in October, before beginning the 2007 schedule in January with the San Diego State Hidden Dual Tournament (Jan. 13-14). The home schedule opens up with a pair of team matches on Jan. 20 against UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis. The Broncos will also welcome top opponents like Boise State (Jan. 28), Oregon (Feb. 17), UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 19), Cornell (Mar. 23) and Brigham Young (Mar. 27).
Alumni day for the men's tennis program will take place on Mar. 30, when Husack's team squares off against Ivy League power Harvard. Home WCC matches include Gonzaga (Feb. 16), San Francisco (Feb. 22) and Portland (Mar. 2). On February 3, Husack's squad will face one of its biggest challenges as it travels to Malibu to face the defending NCAA Champion Pepperdine Waves. The Broncos conclude their home schedule with a Pro-Am Invitational at Degheri Tennis Center on Apr. 28.
"The schedule is set up to play as many ranked opponents as possible to give us an opportunity to be nationally ranked and make the NCAA Tournament," said Husack. "We are happy to have 16 home matches this year because we play very well at home. We also want to improve our play on the road and we have a number of challenging matches on the road to help us accomplish that goal. Overall, we are just looking forward to getting started."
For the women, led by third-year coach Damon Coupe, the fall schedule consists of six tournaments, including the ITA Regionals from Oct. 20-23. After the winter break, the Broncos open up their team schedule with three straight road contests at UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 3), Pacific (Feb. 10) and UC Davis (Feb. 13). The team then plays its first home match against WCC rival Gonzaga on Feb. 17, followed by conference matches against Saint Mary's (Feb. 18) and San Francisco (Feb. 23), also at the Degheri Tennis Center. Overall, the women play nine matches at home in 2007 and 11 on the road.
"This is by far the toughest schedule the women's program has ever had," said Coupe. "The players want to play against the best and so do the coaches. We look forward to competing hard all season."
The WCC Championships for both teams will take place from Apr. 20-22 in Malibu. Last year, the men took fourth in the WCC, while the women finished seventh.