VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota head tennis coach Brett Barnett is pleased to announce the upcoming spring schedule featuring a combined six home matches and a strong slate of non-conference matches.
 
"Coming off our strong fall season I am really excited for dual match season," said Barnett. "We have put together a challenging schedule again but one that has lots of opportunities for this team. We showed this fall we can compete with and beat anyone and we need that mentality from everyone this spring."
 
South Dakota has a total of 20 duals on its 2024 spring schedule, including two home matches in Vermillion and another four in Sioux Falls and newly renovated Huether Family Match Pointe.
 
The Coyotes will travel to Urbandale, Iowa to begin the season inside Life Time Fitness with a match against Iowa State from the Big 12 on January 20 and Missouri State on January 21.
 
The first of the four matches at Huether Family Match Pointe, now a 10-court facility, is on Friday, January 26 against Sioux Falls.
 
South Dakota will road trip to Manhattan, Kansas to face Kansas State on January 28 before playing a pair of matches the following weekend inside Match Pointe against Montana State on February 2 and Drake on February 4.
 
The Coyotes close out February with road matches at Minnesota on February 10 and a two-match swing to Laramie, Wyoming to face Wyoming on February 16 and Idaho on February 18.
 
The Summit League season begins on Friday, March 1 against Omaha in an evening match inside Huether Family Match Pointe in Sioux Falls.
 
A trip to Denver proceeds the spring break trip in Orlando, Florida where matches with MSU-Moorhead, Morgan State and Marist await.
 
The lone two matches in Vermillion scheduled on March 22 with Kansas City and April 12 with North Dakota are sandwiched around four road matches – at Western Illinois (March 24), St. Thomas (April 1), Creighton (April 4) and Oral Roberts (April 6).
 
"I'm looking for us to come back ready to go and I expect we will be playing our best tennis when we start Summit League play," added Barnett. "The league continues to improve and we know there are no easy matches and we have to be ready to compete each day. We've got a great group here that is ready to have a strong spring!"