DENVER – Cross your fingers. Pull out your rabbit's foot. Find whatever other good-luck charm you may have.
 
The MSU Denver men's and women's tennis teams are scheduled for home duals at the Regency Athletic Complex this week. And it looks like the weather might cooperate.
 
"It's tough having such a nice facility that we haven't been able to use very much," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Josh Graetz said.
 
If all goes as planned, the Roadrunners will be using the facility quite a bit this weekend.
 
Besides Wednesday's 2 p.m. duals with Colorado State University-Pueblo, also on the schedule are 2 p.m. matchups for both teams on Friday with Colorado Mesa and Saturday's 10 a.m. women's dual against Dixie State. The men also travel to Northern Colorado for noon dual on Sunday.
 
Thus far, while rarely playing at home (the women had a home dual in September, while the men haven't played at home) MSU Denver has compiled records of 7-9 (women) and 4-8 (men).
 
"It's tough on the players when every weekend we've had travel somewhere, sometimes in the middle of nowhere," Graetz said. "We've got home matches and the players are excited about it and we're going to make the most of it."
 
Both teams went 2-1 while playing three consecutive days in three different locations in Kansas and Missouri last week, defeating Newman (Kan.) and Rockhurst (Mo.) before losing at Northwest Missouri State. The Northwest Missouri State women were ranked No. 19 nationally.
 
"We had a strong weekend, and I think that's given the players a lot of confidence moving forward," Graetz said. "I think they didn't quite realize how close we are to the goals we're trying to achieve. Right now it's about keeping everybody healthy. Everyone on both sides, they're all hitting really good balls. I'm excited about how we're playing."
 
One of the highlights of the week was Joey Tscherne's three-set win over Northwest Missouri State's Franco Oliva, who is ranked No. 10 nationally, in No. 1 singles on the men's side.
 
"We all know what we're going to get from Joey," Graetz said. "He leads from the front. He's taking it to another level out there. He's played some really strong players this year – three or four guys who are ranked in the top 10 in the nation right now. He knows the level that it takes."
 
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference no longer sponsors men's tennis as a championship sport, but since there are still four women's teams playing in the RMAC it is sponsored for them. So, an abbreviated RMAC regular season is about to start as well.
 
The matches Friday and Saturday are RMAC contests, as is the April 13 dual at CSU-Pueblo. With so few matches in such a short time comprising the conference season, it's not a typical situation.
 
"I don't see the conference matches as any more important than any of the other matches," Graetz said. "I don't think the players really know if they are conference matches or not, which is the way I want it."
 
Graetz said his program's goal will always be to be among the top 20 in the nation, to have a team grade-point average of at least 3.3, and to give back to the community.
 
"We've done a really good job of giving back to the community and our academics have always been really high," Graetz said. "Right now, the top 20 in the nation is what we're working towards. We haven't had the start to the season that I or the players would have hoped for, but we've made good progress and all we can do now is look forward."