VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota head tennis coach Brett Barnett is pleased to announce the upcoming spring schedule featuring four home matches and a strong slate of non-conference matches.
 
"I'm excited for the players knowing that we are having a season!" said Barnett. "It's been almost 10 months since we have played a competitive match. 
 
"I'm really happy with the schedule we've been able to put together. It hasn't been easy and it's changed a bunch but we have a tough schedule put in place that is going to test us and prepare us for what is looking like a very deep Summit League this year. 
 
South Dakota will play a total of 16 dual matches, 10 non-conference and six within the Summit League.
 
The Coyotes open the spring season facing Iowa State on Jan. 22 in Des Moines, one of three trips to Iowa Capitol this season. Matches against Drake on Feb 6 and Colorado State on Feb. 20. In between the first two trips to Des Moines, South Dakota will face Missouri State at the Huether Family Tennis Center in Sioux Falls on Feb. 5.
 
The Summit League slate begins with a trip to Kansas City, Missouri to face a Kansas City team that is returning to the Summit League after a brief hiatus. The match on March 13 will conclude the spring break trip that has matches scheduled on March 9 in Abilene, Texas and March 10 in Stephensville, Texas.
 
The home slate begins with a match against Creighton (March 31) and includes matches against league foes Oral Roberts (April 9), Western Illinois (April 17) and North Dakota (April 18).
 
"This team is ready to compete, we've looked great in practice and it will be fun to see what this group can accomplish this year."

The Summit League Tournament starts April 30 in Denver, Colorado, where the winner will earn the Summit League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.