Ladyjacks Release 2018 Schedule
1/6/2018 11:27:00 AM | Women's Tennis
SFA takes on four 2017 NCAA Tournament squads through 23-match slate
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Third-year Stephen F. Austin tennis coach Jon McLaughlin announced the Ladyjacks' 2018 regular season schedule Friday afternoon.
Throughout the Ladyjacks' 23-match regular season schedule, they will take on no fewer than four 2017 NCAA Tournament teams beginning with the season's leadoff match - a neutral-site tilt against Wichita State in Dallas on Friday, Jan. 19.
"Our goals don't change from year to year, and of course one of our long-term goals is to make a run at the Southland Conference regular season title," stated McLaughlin who retains the services of four letterwinners from his 2017 squad.
"In order to do that we have to build up for league play by taking on premier non-conference opponents," McLaughlin continued. "We designed our out of conference schedule to be challenging enough to prepare us for the rigors of a Southland slate that always features many excellent competitors both individually and at the team level."
Of the team's 23 matches, 11 of them will take place at the Schlief Tennis Complex on SFA's campus. The Ladyjacks' home slate starts Saturday, Jan. 27 when the squad hosts UTSA and Tyler Junior College during a two-match day.
Following their three regular season matches in January, the Ladyjacks hit the road for five of their seven matches throughout the month of February. That run begins at Texas A&M (Saturday, Feb. 3) and continues with matches against Liberty (Sunday, Feb. 4) in College Station, Texas, and at Prairie View A&M (Sunday, Feb. 4).
Non-conference meetings with Texas State (Saturday, Feb. 10) and Northeastern State (Saturday, Feb. 17) in Nacogdoches precede matches at Ole Miss (Saturday, Feb. 24) and Memphis (Sunday, Feb. 25) before SFA begins its Southland Conference slate.
Once March begins, 11 of the team's 13 remaining regular season matches will be against Southland Conference opponents beginning with home showdowns against Lamar (Saturday, March 3) and Sam Houston State (Sunday, March 4). In all, six of the Ladyjacks' Southland matches will occur at the Schlief Tennis Complex including SFA's bouts against New Orleans (Saturday, March 17), Southeastern Louisiana (Sunday, March 18), Incarnate Word (Saturday, April 7) and two-time defending league champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Sunday, April 8).
Before the month of March comes to an end, SFA will also hit the road to take on Southland foes Nicholls (Saturday, March 10), McNeese (Sunday, March 11), Northwestern State (Saturday, March 24) and Abilene Christian (Saturday, March 31). The Ladyjacks' penultimate regular season non-conference match of the season is set to take place at home, too, when Louisiana Tech pays a visit to Nacogdoches (Sunday, March 25).
The Ladyjacks concluded their regular season with back-to-back road matches in the state of Arkansas. That stretch begins with non-conference meeting against Arkansas State (Friday, Feb. 13) before the team concludes regular season Southland Conference play at Central Arkansas (Sunday, April 15).
Included in SFA's group of four returning letterwinners from from 2017 are reigning Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year Kaja Ljubic, and sophomores Gabi Guilarte, Siân Payne and Darinka Tiboldi. Also on the squad for 2018 are sophomore Armelle Cerdan and Nida Kamal.
For continued coverage of SFA tennis, be sure to keep up with SFAJacks.com throughout the season and follow SFA tennis on Twitter (@SFA_Tennis and @SFA_Athletics) and on Facebook (SFA Tennis).
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