'Cuse Tennis Set for 2018 Campaign
12/19/2017 9:04:00 PM | Tennis
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The 2018 season is just around the corner for the Syracuse tennis team as head coach Younes Limam announced the 2018 slate on Tuesday. The Orange have a tough road ahead of them as they are set to face 11 teams that ranked in the top 50 last season, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, including No. 5 North Carolina and No. 9 Georgia Tech.
The schedule includes 12 home matches to be played at Drumlins Country Club, while the Orange will hit the road for nine away contests. The slate also includes 14 matches against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, four contests with Ivy League teams, and match-ups with a team from the MAAC, the Patriot League, Conference USA and the AAC.
The Orange open the 2018 season with three consecutive non-conference matches at home. Syracuse will face-off with Niagra in the season opener on Jan. 21 (11 a.m.) before playing host to Colgate (Jan. 26 at 3 p.m.) and Columbia (Jan. 28 at 11 a.m.) in a two-match weekend set.
Syracuse hits the road for the first time in 2018 when it travels to Charlottesville to take on Virginia on Feb. 3 (11 a.m.) for the Orange's first conference match-up of the season. 'Cuse returns to Drumlins to host Connecticut (Feb. 9 at 11 a.m.) before playing two matches in three days against Boston College and Yale on Feb. 16 (4 p.m.) and 18 (11 a.m.), respectively.
The Orange finish out the month of February on a two-match road trip, playing Brown (Feb. 24 at 11 a.m) and Harvard (Feb. 25 at 10 a.m.) on back-to-back days. Syracuse met Harvard during the fall season at the Harvard Invitational. Juniors Dina Hegab and Libi Mesh notched a 6-2 victory over the duo from Harvard.
March is filled with road contests as the Orange play three straight away matches at Virginia Tech (March 2 at 2 p.m.), North Carolina (March 4 at 1 p.m.) and Florida Atlantic (March 13 at 9 a.m.). 'Cuse follows up the road slate with three conference matches at home, hosting Clemson on March 16 (1 p.m.), Wake Forest on March 18 (11 a.m.) and Louisville on March 25 (11 a.m.).
Syracuse's final match in the month of March takes place in Pittsburgh when the Orange will square-off with the Panthers on March 30 (2 p.m.). March is the busiest month for the Orange as the team plays seven contests in the span of 29 days.
Conference play continues into April as the Orange host No. 9 Georgia Tech on the first of the month in an 11 a.m. contest. A road trip to Florida follows with Syracuse visiting Florida State (April 6 at 3:30 p.m.) and Miami (April 8 at 11 a.m.) for a pair of matches. 'Cuse returns to Drumlins for its final two home matches of the season, facing-off with Duke on April 13 (5 p.m.) and Notre Dame on April 15 (11 a.m.). The Orange's final match of the regular season takes place on the road at North Carolina State on April 22 (11 a.m.).
The ACC tournament will be played in Cary, North Carolina beginning on April 25. NCAA Regionals will be played May 11-13 and the Championships will take place from May 17-28.
Junior Gabriela Knutson finished the fall season ranked No. 17 in the final Oracle/ITA National Singles Rankings. Knutson is the highest-ranked tennis player in Syracuse program history. She is coming off the Oracle/ITA National Fall Championships where she went 3-2 against the best women's tennis players in the nation. Sophomore Miranda Ramirez also received a nod from the ITA, coming in at No. 16 in the Doubles Rankings, alongside Knutson.
The full schedule can be accessed here.
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