Men's tennis announces 19-20 schedule
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Bryant University men's tennis head coach Ron Gendron announced the Bulldogs' 2019-20 schedule on Friday morning.
Fresh off their sixth-straight Northeast Conference title and a DI program-record 20 victories, the Black and Gold will face one of their most challenging schedules to date.
Bryant will compete in eight fall tournaments before playing 25 matches in the spring. The schedule includes a season-opening nine-day swing that takes the Bulldogs from Oklahoma to Colorado and four NEC matches.
The Bulldogs open the fall with the Bryant Invitational on Sept. 14-15 at the Bryant Tennis Courts. It will be one of three home events for the Black and Gold in the fall. They will also host Bentley on Oct. 5 and then host the Bryant Fall Invite on Oct. 26-27.
Bryant's other fall tournaments include a pair of Brown Invitationals, the Dartmouth Invitational, the Quinnipiac Invitational, the ITA Oracle Invitational and the ITA Northeast Regionals.
The Bulldogs have historically played the toughest schedule in the Northeast and that is no different this year. Bryant opens the spring season with six matches in four days in Oklahoma. The Bulldogs will face Oklahoma St. (Jan. 17) and Lamar (Jan. 18) in Stillwater, before playing both Tulsa and Illinois St. on Jan. 19 in Tulsa. Bryant will close its tour of Oklahoma with matches against the Sooners and Oral Roberts on Jan. 20 in Tulsa.
Following their six-game swing in Oklahoma, the Black and Gold will travel across the country to play four matches in Colorado. Bryant will face Denver (Jan. 23), Northern Colorado (Jan. 24), Air Force (Jan. 24) and Weber St. (Jan. 26).
The Bulldogs then return to the Northeast for two-straight weekends. They travel to Army on Feb. 8 before hosting Boston University and St. John's at Fore Court in Cumberland on Feb. 16. Bryant closes February with matches against East Carolina and Georgia Southern in Greenville, S.C.
March will include nine matches for the Black and Gold, starting with matches against Brandeis and Fairleigh Dickinson on Mar. 7 at Fore Court. The Bulldogs will spend the following weekend in Philadelphia, taking on Villanova, MIT and Drexel.
After facing Brown on Mar. 19, the Bulldogs will host St. Francis Brooklyn on Mar. 20 and Sacred Heart and Merrimack on Mar. 28.
Bryant closes the regular season on April 8 when it welcomes Quinnipiac to Smithfield.
The 2020 NEC Men's Tennis Championships will be held Apr. 17-19 at Mercer County Park in West Windsor, N.J.