NEWARK, NJ - First-year Head Coach Marco Matteucci and the NJIT men's tennis team are slated to open their 2022 season on Sunday when they host LIU at 1pm in the Naimoli Tennis Center.

Matteucci inherited a squad that went 7-5 in 2021 and returns almost all key pieces from that squad, while also adding a pair of freshmen in Oscar Callo Von Platen and Pablo Perez Ramos. The lineup will once again be headlined by veteran Abdullah Fouad, who is in his fifth season as a Highlander. 

"I am really excited about the spring." explained Matteucci. "The men have put in a lot of hard work since the beginning of the fall and are ready to go."

After not being affiliated with a conference last season, the Highlanders are now members of the Southland Conference and will compete for an automatic berth in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

"We have a full schedule ahead of us and everyone is excited to begin competing and playing for a Southland Conference for the first time," added Matteucci.

In addition to Sunday's match vs. LIU, the Highlanders will host eight other matches in Newark this season while also competing in nine road matches. The nine home matches can be streamed on the NJIT Tennis YouTube page. 

The road schedule is highlighted by a spring break trip to Texas where NJIT will take on Southland opponents Texas A&M Corpus-Cristi and Incarnate Word, in addition to a non-conference matchup with UTRGV,

Following the regular season schedule, NJIT will compete in the Southland Conference Tournament, which will be hosted by New Orleans in late April. 

"I believe this group has tremendous potential that has laid dormant during these difficult COVID years," concluded Matteucci. Everyone is excited about what the future holds!"

Matteucci recently sat down with NJIT's Mike Ventola to discuss his background and give a quick preview for the season. That interview can be found here or by clicking play below.