The men's tennis team will open its home season on Friday against No. 9 Texas A&M in the Eck Center at 4 p.m. They will then host St. John's and Illinois on Sunday. Friday's games has been titled the Gold Game and was created by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council to promote student interest in the match.The Irish are coming off a 6-1 road victory against No. 51 Indiana last weekend. The team will look to tri-captains Matthew Scott, Luis Haddock and Brent D'Amico for leadership, with a solid group of underclassmen capable of putting points on the board. Texas A&M (3-0) was ranked No. 9 in the preseason by the Intercollegeiate Tennis Association. They swept Monday's tripleheader against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Pan American and Trinity College. Last year, the Aggies finished the season ranked No. 11 and advanced to the NCAA tournament's Sweet Sixteen. They remain threatening this season with the nation's No. 1 doubles team of Lester Cook and Ante Matijevic, who are ranked No. 17 and 19, respectively, in singles. The Irish will take on St. John's at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Last year, the team lost to Notre Dame in the Big East Championship quarterfinals. This is one of only three conference matches for Notre Dame in the regular season. St. John's is returning three starters from 2003's 10-8 team, and open their season on Saturday against Illinois State.Illinois State will be Notre Dame's final match of the weekend at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
