KINGSVILLE, Texas (Tennis) – No. 7 regionally ranked Texas A&M University-Kingsville (1-0) is set for a busy weekend with three matches in as many days beginning on Thursday, February 9th. Their first match will be on a neutral court against No. 9/1 Northeastern State University (2-1) at Rohrbach Tennis Complex in San Antonio, Texas at 10 a.m. The Javelinas will then play their first matches on the new tennis courts on campus February 10th and 11th against No. 5 regionally ranked Dallas Baptist University (1-1) and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, respectively. Both matches are slated to begin at 2 p.m.

The Javs come off of a 9-0 victory over Howard Payne to jump start the 2017 season. After a pair of competitive matches Thursday and Friday, TAMUK will open Lone Star Conference play with a dual against new conference member UT Permian Basin. The Hogs have two players ranked in the region for singles play starting with No.12 Valerie Ruiz and No. 17 Lisa Carvajal.

Northeastern State is the No.9 ranked team in all of Division II tennis and holds the top ranking in the Central region. The Riverhawks are 2-1 this season with their lone loss coming against Stephen F. Austin. Key players on the squad consist of No. 35/3 Molly Worden and regionally ranked No.6 Val Efimenko (3-0). The two are also a high-powered doubles team who is ranked 4th in Division II and 1st in the central region with a perfect 3-0 record.

Although not ranked nationally, TAMUK's first match at its new home will be the first regional match of the season against the fifth-best team in the region, Dallas Baptist. The Patriots split their first two matches this spring, beginning with a 9-0 loss against Tyler Junior College, followed by an 8-1 victory against UT Tyler. DBU has No. 10 (regional ranking) Ana Banic returning and No. 15 Skylar McDonald. Basic and senior Lacey Sprinkle are the 5th ranked doubles team in the region. 

The final match of the weekend will be against UT Permian Basin. The Falcons will open their season on the road February 10th at Prairie View A&M before playing two matches on the 11th in Kingsville against Dallas Baptist at 9 a.m. and then host Texas A&M-Kingsville at 2 p.m.

For full coverage of Texas A&M-Kingsville tennis, please follow @JavelinaTennis on Twitter and Instagram, like the official Facebook page of Javelina athletics (/JavelinaSports), and subscribe to the JavelinaAthletics YouTube channel.