Spring sports are officially back. The Chattanooga Mocs men's and women's tennis teams get set to open up the 2022 spring season on Friday with a doubleheader against Jacksonville State held at The McCallie School's Strang-Voges Tennis Center.
The men's match against the Gamecocks will begin at 10 a.m. ET while the women's match is set for a 5:30 p.m. ET start time. JSU's women's team started the year with a match against Mississippi State (L, 0-7) last week before both programs face Lee University on Thursday ahead of Friday's tilt against UTC.
"All the guys are really playing well, and we are super excited to open up this season with this match against JSU," said men's head coach Chuck Merzbacher.
The men's program is coming off a 9-11, 3-4 SoCon finish last season in the spring, but had a highly-successful fall season this year.
The team was led in the warm months by the doubles tandem of Tomas Rodriguez and Peyton Gatti, a pairing that earned their way to an ITA Ohio Valley Regional runner-up performance and a berth into the ITA Fall National Championships.
"They [JSU] were able to get us last year at Jacksonville, so we are glad it is a home match to start this season. They certainly have depth and we'll need to come out strong," added Merzbacher.
Switching to the women's side, the program finished the 2021 spring slate 9-9 overall (8-3 in home matches) and 2-5 in SoCon play. The team's experience is led by senior Emma Van Hee and juniors Caroline Gibbens and Lilly Holmes, while four sophomores in Wilma Bergqvist, Callie Billman, Grace Anne Dunavant and Jessie Young all saw heavy action last season.
"The ladies are excited to host our first match of the season," head coach Chad Camper stated. "We had a great fall season and the women are playing well. It will be great to see it all come together."
Tomorrow's results will be posted to GoMocs.com following the conclusion of action from both the men's and women's side.