DENVER – MSU Denver resumes its men's and women's tennis seasons this weekend, and both teams have big matchups in store.
 
The Roadrunners will play three matches in two days in Kearney, Neb., and the men will merely be facing a Nebraska-Kearney team playing its first home dual since reinstating the program. The Lopers' last men's team played in 2017-18.
 
"A lot of people are going to be there – the president, the athletic director – so I've told the guys that we have to be mentally prepared," MSU Denver coach Bruno Campos said. "It's going to be loud. It's going to be fun, but you've got to get used to it."
 
The weekend starts with the MSU Denver women facing NAIA Hastings (Neb.) at noon CST, with the men's match against Nebraska-Kearney following at 2:30. At 5 p.m., the Roadrunners' women will face a powerhouse Augustana (S.D.) program at 5 p.m. and then the MSU Denver men play Augustana at 7:30.
 
On Saturday, both teams will play Newman (Kan.), beginning at 8 a.m.
 
The MSU Denver men, picked to finish seventh in the rugged Pacific West Conference, expect a competitive match with the Lopers, who are picked to finish third in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association's North Division.
 
"If I had to guess, I would say it's going to be 4-3 for one team or the other," Campos said. "It's going to be exciting."
 
The Augustana men are picked fifth (last) in the MIAA North, while Newman is picked fifth (last) in the South.
 
The Augustana women are picked to win the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference after going 21-4 overall and 11-0 in league play last year en route to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Vikings beat MSU Denver 7-0 last year, but the Roadrunners gained some measure of revenge this past fall when No. 1 singles player Emily Hafner defeated the Vikings' Florentia Hadjigeorgiou at the ITA Cup.
 
"Augustana will be one of the best teams we face all year long," Campos said.
 
Newman's women are picked to finish eighth in the nine-team MIAA.
 
Other than Hafner's mid-October run to the ITA Cup, the rest of MSU Denver's players haven't competed since late September. But plenty of work was done in between.
 
"We've been working on consistency, and trying to keep the ball in play," Campos said. "We want to hit as many balls as possible, have long rallies, especially during the indoor season. That's going to give us the approaches, the short balls, for us to take the net and be aggressive. Sometimes in tennis, you just have to hit an extra ball and you're going to get it done You don't have to actually go for the winner every time. Stay patient, stay in the point.
 
"And we've been working a lot at doubles. Because in every dual, we want to try to be ahead 1-0."
 
Campos added a player to the men's roster at semester break, with Marco Jalalian transferring in from Tusculum (Tenn.). Jalalian is a potential No. 1 doubles player who could potentially challenge Jeanloup Auzias, Juho Kantola and Alejandro Jimenez towards the top of the singles lineup.
 
"He's really good, a nice kid who is really committed," Campos said. "He works hard on and off the court. He's got the experience we need, and having him is going to put us in a better spot."