DENVER – It's that time of year.
 
The MSU Denver and Colorado Mesa men's and women's tennis programs are set to renew acquaintances as they square off for late-season duals both at the Assembly Athletic Complex on Friday as well as in Grand Junction, Colo., on April 15.
 
"There's a long history between the programs, and it's always a good matchup," MSU Denver coach Josh Graetz said. "We're looking forward to having them on our home courts, and we're going to have to come ready to go."
 
Friday's matches are set to start at 1:30 p.m.
 
The weekend also includes a women's dual against CSU Pueblo on Saturday at 1 p.m., and then both the men and women are back in action Sunday at 11 a.m. against Colorado College.
 
Though generally even over the years, the Roadrunners will have to fight to keep long winning streaks alive in their series' with Mesa. The women have won 14 straight against the Mavericks dating to 2016, while the men have won 12 in a row dating to 2017.
 
The men won last year's meetings 6-1 and 7-0, but the women battled through injuries and vacant spots in their lineup to eke out 4-3 and 5-2 wins.
 
"Mesa has some new players in the program, particularly on the men's side, who have done some good things," Graetz said. "But I think our men's program is very different as well with a couple of new guys. We should go in confident, but respectful to our opponent. Same for our women."
 
It's Family Weekend for MSU Denver, with many players' parents arriving.
 
"We don't have a ton of home matches, so we do want to make the most of them and represent our program well," Graetz said. "We're excited to have a big crowd."
 
The MSU Denver men, ranked 31^st in Division II, have won six straight duals to improve to 10-3. Playing particularly well is freshman Stephen Kossifas, who has seven straight wins while playing in the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 spots in the lineup.
 
"His only loss was his first match," Graetz said. "He came in at the semester, and he was still getting acclimated when we started playing. He's gotten more comfortable and he's trusting his game. He's a gritty competitor who knows how to win. He fights for every point."
 
The MSU Denver women are 10-5 and feature the nationally-ranked (No. 27) doubles team of Kinsey Fields and Isabel Heras. They are 11-4.
 
"Our strength is the bottom of our lineup and our doubles," Graetz said. "If we can get the doubles point, I feel confident about being able to win with the depth of our lineup."