UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. -- The Saginaw Valley State University women's tennis team will begin the spring portion of the 2021-22 season at 1 pm Friday when the Cardinals host Concordia University-Ann Arbor from the Greater Midland Tennis Center in Midland, Mich. The Cardinals are led by head coach Ryan Ruzziconi, who is in his second year with the team.
Following their match with CUAA, SVSU will travel to Florida for a spring break trip. SVSU will face the University of Sciences on Mar. 7 in Orlando, FL. The Cardinals will then face the University of Sioux Falls on Mar. 8 and conclude their trip with a match against Shippensburg University on Mar. 9.
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play begins when SVSU faces rival Northwood University at 1 pm Mar. 18 from the Greater Midland Tennis Center. The Cardinals then face Wayne State University the next day at 1 pm from Greater Midland.
SVSU will then make the trip to the Upper Peninsula to face Michigan Tech at 10 am on April 1 and Lake Superior State University at 10 am on April 2. The Cardinals return to the Greater Midland Tennis Center the following weekend to face Davenport at 1 pm Friday, April 8. SVSU concludes the home portion of its schedule with a match against Purdue Northwest University at 11 am Apr. 9.
The final two matches of the regular season will be played on the road. SVSU will face Ferris State University at 1 pm Friday, April 22, before concluding the regular season against Grand Valley State University on Saturday, Apr. 23. The GLIAC Tournament will be played April 29-May 1.
SVSU will be led by two seniors in Nicole Johnson, an Honorable Mention All-GLIAC performer last season, and Joanne Gao. Sophomore Emma Charlton was ranked 18th in the Midwest Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) heading into the 2022 spring season. At No. 1 singles is junior Sara Neves. She is joined by fellow juniors Chelsea Dzenga and Adiya Young.
The Cardinals have four freshmen on the roster, Alexis Anthes, Elizabeth Stuart, Irene Latorre Barreiro, and Andrea Teofilovic.
From Head Coach, Ryan Ruzziconi:
"The atmosphere around the team has been great, we're excited to get started. The team has had about a month to get prepared and are ready to face some opponents."
Full Season Preview with Head Coach Ryan Ruzziconi below: