MTEN | Spring Season Preview

Saint Mary's begins their spring season this week as they travel to Stanford.

MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's men's tennis team opens their spring season this week as they head across the bay to take on Stanford on Jan.13 beginning at noon.

The Gaels' season opener is just one of 19 duals the team will play during the regular season. After traveling down south to play UC Irvine and UCLA during the first week of February, Saint Mary's returns to their home court on Friday, Feb. 8 to host UC Davis.

SMC will also play three other non-conference matches at home this spring against Southern Utah (Feb. 9), Grand Canyon (Feb. 17), and Army (Mar. 12).

The Gaels open West Coast Conference play on Mar. 3 in San Diego against the Toreros. Saint Mary's will play each of their WCC rivals once during the season and play their last home contest against Gonzaga on April 13. The team's season wraps up on April 17 on the road at BYU.

THE TEAM
Saint Mary's will look to carry their momentum of strong play from the fall into the new year with a team featuring loads of new talent.

Junior Damon Kesaris will continue to lead the Gaels' efforts as the team's top singles player. The South African went 13-5 last season in the No. 1 singles slot and also teamed up with Nash Vollenweider to go 7-6 as the team's top doubles tandem. Last year, Kesaris was named First Team All-WCC and made it to the Singles' Round of 32 during the ITA Regionals this past fall in Seattle.

Newcomer Abhishek Bastola also had a solid spring for the Gaels. The junior rolled through his singles bracket at the Aggie Invitational in Davis, Calif. by winning all five of his matches, including the finals, in straight set fashion. He also took half of the sets in the tournament with 6-0 or 6-1 scores.

The Gaels will have five freshman on this year's roster, including two red shirts. One of those freshman, James Watt, just recently came to the team from New Zealand and will look to make an impact with an impressive resume and 6-9 frame.

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