BOSTON – Laden with the top two rackets from a year ago, the Suffolk women's tennis team looks ahead to its 2016 schedule, which features nine home matches. The Rams, who are in search of their second GNAC crown, will face two NCAA participants from 2015.
For the second straight season, the first two serves of 2016 will take place at Suffolk's home courts of Buckingham, Browne & Nichols as the Rams entertain Rhode Island College (Sept. 6) and Salve Regina (Sept. 8).
A five game road trip follows the pair of home matches with Suffolk visiting Regis (Sept. 10), who will join the GNAC contingent in 2017, Roger Williams (Sept. 12), Bridgewater State (Sept. 15) and Emerson (Sept. 18). The road stretch closes with the first conference competition of the season at reigning conference champ Simmons Tuesday, Sept. 20.
Suffolk steps out of conference play when it heads back to the friendly confines of BB&N for contests versus Wentworth (Sept. 22), Springfield (Sept. 28) and Lesley (Oct. 3). A Saturday, Oct. 1 showdown with Albertus Magnus breaks up the non-conference stretch.
A pit stop at Anna Maria (Oct. 5) comes before the final homestand of the season, which features league matches against Johnson & Wales (Oct. 8) and the University of St. Joseph (Conn.) (Oct. 10) and closes with 2015 NCAA participant UMass Dartmouth in the home finale Thursday, Oct. 13.
The Rams cap off the regular season on the road at Mount Ida Saturday, Oct. 15.
GNAC Player of the Year Aidiana Sagyndykova and GNAC Rookie of the Year Valentina Medina are set to return to the courts for Suffolk this fall. The twosome are joined by five returning letterwinners that helped Steve Counihan's Rams to a 10-5 ledger, the most wins since a perfect 2007 (14-0), and kept Suffolk's conference postseason run impeccable since joining the ranks in 2007 by making the ninth straight appearance.