Women's Tennis Announces 2015-16 Schedule
7/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama women's tennis team announced its 2015-16 schedule on Wednesday, featuring seven fall tournaments including the annual two-day Roberta Alison Fall Classic at the Alabama Tennis Stadium on October 30-31. The Tide will host its fourth consecutive ITA Kick-Off Weekend on January 23-24 and cap a competitive conference slate vs. defending NCAA champion Vanderbilt on April 17 in Nashville. The 2016 SEC Championships will be hosted by LSU in Baton Rouge, while the 2016 NCAA Championships will be played at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"We're enthusiastic about the upcoming 2015-16 season," said Alabama head coach Jenny Mainz. "We have so many positives to build on following 2014-15. We're thrilled to be hosting some prestigious events at home again this year in front of our loyal Alabama fans. Our home crowd has pulled us through many pivotal matches that have catapulted our ranking. We're grateful for our fans and their commitment to our program."
Alabama will play the first of seven fall tournaments September 18-20 at the Baylor Invitational in Waco, Texas before traveling to Malibu, California (Oracle Collegiate Tennis Championships) and Greenville, South Carolina (Furman Fall Classic) to round out the season's opening month. Two-time defending NCAA doubles champions, Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe, will play in the ITA Women's All-American Championships from October 3-11 in Los Angeles, California, before the team heads to Auburn for the USTA-ITA Southern Regional Championships October 16-19. Alabama will host the Roberta Alison Fall Classic on October 30-31 before wrapping up the fall season at the three-day USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships from November 12-15 in Flushing Meadows, New York.
The Crimson Tide kicks off its 2016 dual match season on January 15 at the Northwestern Invitational in Evanston, Illinois before returning to Tuscaloosa to host the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on January 23-24 for the fourth consecutive season. Following the ITA National Indoor Championships which will be played in Madison, Wisconsin February 5-8, the Tide will face Virginia and Northwestern before heading to Montgomery for the annual Blue Gray National Tennis Classic on February 26-27.
The Tide will open its conference season with back-to-back home matches vs. LSU and Texas A&M on March 3 and 5 at the Alabama Tennis Stadium, before playing four consecutive road matches vs. Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri. The Tide will then play four of its next five matches at home before wrapping up the dual match slate at Kentucky and defending NCAA champion Vanderbilt on April 17.
The Southeastern Conference Tournament will be held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from April 20-24, ahead of the NCAA first and second rounds at a to-be-determined site from May 13-15. The NCAA Team Championships will be played in Tulsa, Oklahoma from May 19-30.
"I'm optimistic about the upcoming season as our team continues to steadily climb and improve," added Mainz. "I'm excited about our new players integrating with our veterans and I know that we will have a dynamic team that will be exciting to watch. We have a nice blend of experience, talent, leadership and fire power that makes up an ambitious group motived to take Alabama women's tennis to the top."
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