By Ernie Gonzalez (@superego1012):
The San Jose State women’s tennis team will open up its season at its much-anticipated new home facility at SJSU’s Spartan Tennis Complex Friday afternoon.
The defending Mountain West champions are set to host two nationally-ranked teams on Friday and Saturday, beginning with No.18 Sonoma State and the country’s best Stanford Cardinal.
Head coach Chad Skorupka, who led the Spartans to their first conference championship since 2013 last season and their second ever NCAA tournament will return for his fourth season.
The first game for the unranked Spartans features a Friday afternoon matchup against the No. 18 Sonoma State Seawolves, who finished the 2017 campaign with a 12-5 record and third in the Pac-West Conference.
Saturday however, is a much-awaited contest against the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s No. 1 Stanford, which will be the first time in three decades the Cardinal and Spartans meet in a dual match and the first time ever the event is in San Jose.
Overall, the expectations for this season are sky-high, especially coming off a season like last.
Players to keep tabs on are 5-foot-6 German freshman Jackie Wagner who has had solid outings in singles thus far, as well as Laura Malsert from France, who has shown bright spots in doubles.
The first serve is at noon.
