FLORENCE, Ala. (January 11, 2024) – University of North Alabama Director of Tennis Olaya Garrido-Rivas and Men's Tennis Coach Aitor Reparaz announced the 2024 Spring Men's Tennis schedule on Thursday.

The schedule consists of 20 match days, with seven home and 12 away matches and includes one regular season tournament — the Cajun Winter Classic in Lafayette, La.

Reparaz looks to build in year two after 10 wins in 2022-23 and a second-round appearance in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. The Lions will seek to start the season strong after being voted fifth of 10 teams in the 2024 ASUN Men's Tennis Preseason Poll. This represents the highest preseason ranking of UNA's Division I era.

"I'm very excited to start the season with this group," said Reparaz. "We have a young and talented team, and they are eager to start competing. We have a challenging schedule ahead of us, but I definitely think we have the skill to be successful."

The Lions kicks off the season on Jan. 15 when UNA opens with a trip to Oxford, Miss. against SEC opponent Ole Miss. North Alabama hits the road again on Jan. 26 against Samford before hosting UAB in the first home match of the season. 

The first tournament of the season comes on Feb. 2-3 when UNA travels to Lafayette, La. for the Cajun Winter Classic at the University of Louisiana. UNA will follow with a dual at Chattanooga on Feb. 9 before returning to Florence to host Troy and Alabama A&M on Feb. 18 and 22, respectively. 

From Feb. 24 to March 24, North Alabama begins a stretch of seven-straight away matches, beginning with a doubleheader with Jackson State and Alcorn State. Alabama State marks the first match in March on the first, while Jacksonville State follows the next day on March 2. Nearly two weeks later, UNA heads to Florida to open ASUN play with duals against Stetson (March 15) and FGCU (March 17) before wrapping up the roadtrip against Kennesaw State (March 22) and North Florida (March 24).

The Lions host EKU and Queens on March 28 and 30, respectively, then hits the road for the final away match at Lipscomb on April 6 in Nashville. UNA hosts two final matches against Austin Peay and Bellarmine on April 12 and 14 before postseason begins with the ASUN Tournament on April 19.   

"We play a lot on the road, and I expect that we will face many difficult and close matches," said Reparaz. "The players are aware that it will be a long and demanding season, and they are excited about that. We learned many things during fall, especially dealing with adversity, and our goal is to keep growing as a team to be ready for ASUN play." 

To view the schedule, click here.

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.