DENVER – The MSU Denver tennis teams return to action this weekend with rare home matches.
 
However, due to expected weather, the men's team will be forced to play its duals Friday and Saturday against Hawaii-Hilo off campus and indoors.
 
The teams will square off at 7 p.m. Friday at the Denver Tennis Park and at 4 p.m. Saturday at Meadow Creek.
 
The women's team's dual against Fort Hays State (Kan.) has been pushed back to Sunday at 10 a.m., but will still be played at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
 
Fort Hays State is 4-2.
 
The Roadrunners men's team (4-5) is ranked No. 45 in Division II by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Hawaii-Hilo (0-2) was ranked No. 25 last week but fell out of the top 50 this week.
 
Not only is it a rare home match, it's also an even rarer appearance from a Pacific West Conference opponent. The Roadrunners are affiliate members of the conference for tennis, but the league has no set schedule and only Hawaii-Hilo (last year) and Fresno Pacific (two years ago) have come to Denver to play men's duals. (Colorado Mesa, also an affiliate member, comes to Denver each season.)
 
MSU Denver tennis players Juho Kantola and Emily Hafner are ranked among the top 25 in Division II in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
  
Kantola is ranked No. 23 in the men's rankings. He's 11-3 this season and 30-9 in two seasons with the Roadrunners.
 
Hafner is ranked No. 24 nationally among women. She's 13-8 since joining the program last fall.
 
The individual rankings are the first of the spring portion of the season, while the team rankings have been expanded from the top 25 to the top 50.
 
The MSU Denver women (2-8) have played a challenging schedule that includes No. 5 Washburn (Kan.), No. 7 Lubbock Christian (Texas) twice, No. 25 Northwest Missouri State, No. 28 Augustana (S.D.) and No. 45 Harding (Ark.).