2018 LIU Brooklyn Women's Tennis Schedule
BROOKLYN, N.Y., -- The defending Northeast Conference champion LIU Brooklyn women's tennis team has released the team's 2018 spring schedule, it was announced Tuesday. With second-year head coach
Anthony Davison at the helm, NEC Player of the Year
Anna Grigoryan and NEC Rookie of the Year
Sasha Bollweg return, leading five first team All-NEC players through 18 dual matches against many of the strongest teams in the region. Grigoryan, Bollweg and the Blackbirds are also coming off a fall non-traditional season with impressive showings at the Oracle ITA Masters and the ITA Regionals.
The first serve for the Blackbirds in the spring will be at home at the McCarren Tennis Center versus a very familiar foe, the Terriers of St. Francis Brooklyn at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 27. LIU follows that with a road dual match at St. Peter's in Jersey City, Sunday, January 28.
The Blackbirds will face a string of strong opponents in February, including St. John's, ranked No. 1 in the BIG EAST. The two teams face off at the USTA Tennis Center Friday, February 2nd. LIU will also take on UMass (February 10) and Hofstra (February 17) before returning to NEC action. LIU will host back-to-back home matches, including perennial NEC power Bryant, Saturday, February 24. The next weekend, the Blackbirds welcome cross-borough rival Fordham to Brooklyn on Saturday, March 3, before traveling across the Husdon River to face off against NJIT on Sunday, March 4.
The Blackbirds will then make their annual migration south, traveling down to sunny Florida for spring break, and a pair of matches with Palm Beach Atlantic (March 13) and Stetson (March 16).
After a week off, LIU will return to action with two of the toughest matches on the schedule: first, traveling to take on Big East semifinalist Seton Hall in East Orange, N.J. on March 24. The Blackbirds follow that up by facing off against some familiar faces for Davison: his old team and Ivy League powerhouse, the nationally-ranked Columbia Lions, Sunday, March 25 in Morningside Heights.
The Blackbirds will them finish up the regular season in a flurry of action, with six matches in two weeks, all on the road. LIU will face Saint Francis U. in a neutral site match at Wagner, April 1, before their last two non-conference matches of the year. The Blackbirds will spend a weekend on Long Island, taking on Stony Brook, Friday, April 6, before facing off against Binghamton in a neutral site match at Stony Brook, Saturday, April 7. LIU wraps up league play with three-straight dual matches: at Fairleigh Dickinson (April 10), versus Sacred Heart at Yale (April 14), and at Wagner (April 15).
LIU will then head south to defend their championship title at the 2018 Northeast Conference tournament, which will take place April 20-22 at the Mercer County Tennis Center in West Windsor, N.J. With another win in West Winsor, the Blackbirds can return to the NCAA Championship tournament for the second year in a row, taking place in mid-May.