SCHEDULE
Sunday Jan. 19
Texas-Pan American at Texas A&M, 4:00 p.m. CT
Chicago State at Northwestern, 7:30 p.m. CT
Monday, Jan. 20
Chicago State at Western Michigan, 5:00 p.m. CT
* WAC match up
TEAM RECAPS
CHICAGO STATE
Chicago State begins its first season in the Western Athletic Conference after spending the previous five seasons in the Mid-American Conference ... the Chicago State tennis program added Javier Bernabe as an assistant couch ... Bernabe spent the previous three seasons as an assistant at Northern Illinois and played tennis at NIU ... juniors Rashley Yeremia, Mario Noboa and Luis Ulloa were honored by the Chicago State Office of International Programs for their work in the classroom as international students who have a GPA over 3.50 ... juniors Mario Noboa and Sergiu Muresan were selected by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Tournament as a doubles pairing in October ... the Cougars open the dual season on Sunday at Northwestern ... CSU follows that up that up with another road dual at Western Michigan on Monday.
GRAND CANYON
Grand Canyon will embark on its first Division I and WAC season this year ... the ‘Lopes earned a pair of top-four finishes at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Calif. this fall, as Arjun Bal and Felix Schueller advanced to the semifinals of the doubles competition ... Ahmad Saleem earned a semifinals berth at the UNLV tournament this fall ... the ‘Lopes will open the dual portion of the schedule by travelling to face Air Force on Jan. 24 ... while in Colorado Springs, Colo. GCU will also face Abilene Christian on Jan. 25.
IDAHO
Idaho will open the 2014 portion of its schedule on Jan. 25 with two duals, facing Seattle U in the morning and Eastern Washington in the afternoon ... senior Jose Bendeck and junior Cristobal Ramos Salazar are the No. 1 ranked doubles duo in the Mountain Region heading into 2014 ... Bendeck is ranked No. 11 in singles and Artemiy Nikitin is ranked No. 12 in the region ... Idaho doubles pairings have won the ITA Mountain Regional doubles draw in each of the last three seasons, advancing to the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships ... Idaho coach Jeff Beaman, in his eighth season at Idaho, has a 115-75 (.605) record at Idaho in his first seven seasons, and earned 2013 WAC Coach of the Year honors ... the Vandals have three newcomers on the roster for the 2013-14 season.
KANSAS CITY
The Kansas City men’s tennis team begins dual play on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25, hosing Baker and William Jewell, respectively ... Kansas City won the Summit League regular season title four seasons in a row and the tournament title three consecutive years before moving to the WAC this season ... the ‘Roos will have to overcome the loss of the top two winningest players in school history, three all-conference performers, and four starters ... the starting lineup for 2014 will have 3-4 newcomers ... UMKC men’s tennis has made six NCAA Tournament appearances all-time, more than any other UMKC sport.
NEW MEXICO STATE
New Mexico State open the 2014 dual season on Jan. 23 at home against Texas A&M Corpus Christi ... the Aggies then host Utah State on Jan. 25 ... in the fall, the sophomore duo of Thomas Douglas and Naveen Manivannan reached the quarterfinals of the ITA Mountain Regional doubles tournament, winning three matches in the process ... sophomore Liam Goldberg claimed titles in two fall tournaments, the Aggie Invitational and the Balloon Fiesta Invitational.
SEATTLE U
Seattle will open the dual portion of its schedule on Jan. 23 against Eastern Washington, beginning a string of four matches in four days ... during the fall session, sophomore Ian Clare won four-straight matches to win the orange consolation bracket at the Dar Walters Invitational hosted by Boise State on Oct. 4-6 ... Clare and Zach Kosanke recorded one of the biggest wins in program history, since the rebirth of Seattle U tennis, defeating Boise State’s Toby Mitchell/Abe Hewko, 8-6, at the Dar Walters Tennis Classic on Oct. 4.
TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN
The Broncs return five members from last years squad, including three seniors in Sebastien Job, Chetan Panditi and Ricardo Hopker ... Job has been named team captain ... the Broncs have added two new members for the spring season in Juan Cruz Soria and Ivar Aramburu ... Aramburu earned Freshman of the Year honors in the Big South Conference last year after playing his freshman season with Winthrop University ... the men open up their season against No. 12 Texas A&M on Sunday.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN LAS CRUCES
The 2014 WAC Tennis Tournament will be held April 25-27 in Las Cruces, N.M. The WAC conference championship will be up for grabs, as last year’s champions, Denver, has since departed the WAC.