Men's Tennis Releases 2009 Schedule
May 27, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Gardner-Webb Men's Tennis Coach Mike Griffith released the 2009 men's tennis schedule Tuesday afternoon which includes 11 home matches, a tough non-conference agenda including four nationally ranked opponents, and 20 matches against teams the Bulldogs clashed with in 2008.
The Bulldogs, who only had seven players on the roster in 2008, will have three veterans return, along with six newcomers already signed on for 2009 campaign.
Griffith has signed his team up for five tournaments in the fall, some of which a select few from the team will participate in.
The opening tournament of the Fall Season comes on September 11-13 at UNC-Greensboro. One week later, the Bulldogs will travel to Athens, Ga. for the Southern Intercollegiates Tournament on September 17-21.
At the beginning of October, Griffith will take a few select individuals to the annual All-American Championships in Tulsa, OK. Last season, both Andrew Veeder and Evgeny Slesarev made it to the second round before being eliminated.
From there the team will take part in the Davidson Tournament on October 9-10, finishing up the fall with the ITA Carolinas Regionals in Chapel Hill, N.C. on October 16-19. Slesarev advanced to the Round of 64 before being ousted in last years ITA Mideast Regional at Chapel Hill.
The Bulldogs will begin the 2010 season with a tough three-match road trip, two matches coming against ITA top-100 teams. The ‘Dogs open the spring at #66 Clemson on Saturday, January 16. The Tigers are coming off an 11-13 season, finishing 3-8 in the tough Atlantic Coastal Conference last season.
Griffith's team will then head down to Wilmington, N.C. to take on the CCA defending champions #58 UNC-Wilmington on Friday, January 22. Wilmington finished last season with a 19-6 record, including a 6-1 win over GWU.
The men's team will end the three-match road trip at Davidson on Wednesday, February 3. Davidson is coming off a rough 2009 season, finishing the season at 7-17, 2-8 in the Southern Conference. However, one of their seven wins did come against GWU last year with a 5-2 win at their place.
The Bulldogs will host Winston-Salem State for their 2010 home opener on Friday, February 5. The two teams didn't play each other last season, but the Bulldogs swept WSSU 7-0 two seasons ago at their place.
The Bulldogs will hit the road again the very next day, traveling to UNC-Greensboro for a 1 p.m. showdown. Last season's game was cancelled, but the Bulldogs were able to escape with a 4-3 road win two season's ago. The Spartans finished 3rd in the Southern Conference last season with a 7-3 record, finished 15-8 overall.
The Bulldogs second home match of the season will come against conference neighbor Presbyterian on Thursday, February 11. The Bulldogs defeated PC last season by a 4-3 count at the Webb Tennis Complex.
Next, the Bulldogs will face off with two more Southern Conference teams as they travel to Citadel on Saturday, February 13 and host Wofford on Wednesday, February 17. Citadel finished 10th in the SoCon last season with a 1-9 record, while Wofford finished fourth with a 7-3 record in conference action. The Bulldogs did not see Citadel in 2009, but they were defeated by Wofford, 6-1, last season.
Gardner-Webb will continue its challenging non-conference slate, as the Bulldogs travel to Spartanburg, S.C. on February 20 to take on #70 USC-Upstate. The former conference foes of the ‘Dogs finished an impressive 22-3 in 2009, 9-1 in the Atlantic Sun. The last time these two teams met, Upstate defeated Gardner-Webb 5-0 in 2008.
In the midst of their grueling non-conference schedule, the Bulldogs will return home on February 21 to host Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers, who finished third in the Big South last year at 4-2, defeating GWU by a 6-1 count in 2009.
The Bulldogs will then have nearly a month before their next conference match. Starting on February 27, the ‘Dogs will endure eight non-conference matches before returning to Big South play on March 25 against UNC-Asheville.
The start of the eight game slate will come against #31 South Carolina who defeated the Bulldogs 7-0 last season. USC finished 15-11 overall last season, 3-8 in the SEC. Next, the men's team will battle its last SoCon team of the year, hosting Appalachian State on Wednesday, March 3. The Mountaineers defeated the Bulldogs 6-1 last season.
On March 12, Griffith's team will travel to Banner Elk, N.C. to take on Division II's 25th ranked Lees-McRae. The two teams were scheduled to meet in 2009, but the game was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Bulldogs did defeat the Bobcats back in 2008 by a 6-1 count at the Webb Tennis Complex.
The next two matches will stay on the road as the team will travel to Drake on Sunday, March 14 and end with Campbell on Monday, March 15. The Bulldogs fell to both teams last season.
The Bulldogs will end the non-conference streak at home, hosting North Greenville and Pfeiffer on March 20, and ending with Charlotte on March 24. The ‘Dogs swept both North Greenville and Pfeiffer, 7-0, last season, but fell to Charlotte 5-2.
GWU will resume Big South play on March 25 at UNC-Asheville. The Bulldogs defeated Asheville last season by a 5-2 count at home.
The Bulldogs' next two matches will come in Virginia, as the ‘Dogs will play a non-conference match against Longwood on Saturday, March 27 and finishing in conference with Liberty on Sunday, March 28. These will be two tough road matches for the ‘Dogs as Longwood won last year's match 5-2 and GWU barely snuck by Liberty 4-3 at home.
The remaining conference schedule will also be tough on the ‘Dogs as they will host both Winthrop and Radford in their last two conference matches of the season. Both Winthrop and Radford finished 1-2 in the Big South last season with Radford finishing a perfect 6-0 and Winthrop 5-1.
The Winthrop match is scheduled for Wednesday, March 31 and #51Radford will come on Wednesday, April 7. In between those two is Erskine, who the Bulldogs swept last season, on Tuesday, April 6 at Due West, S.C.
The Bulldogs will end their regular season slate against Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, which is ranked 3rd amongst all junior colleges in America. That match will come on Saturday, April 10 at home.
The 2010 Big South Tournament will be hosted by Radford on April 22-24.
