Head Coach Anuk Christiansz begins his fourth season at the helm of the programs and in three short years has seen a tremendous amount of the growth in both programs.  Last season may have been the best combined seasons in the history of ASU Tennis.
 
"This is my fourth year with the program and if you look at how far we have come we have made amazing, amazing progress," Christiansz said.  "All coaches want to win every time they play, but you don't necessarily have to win every match if you can see you are making progress and if that continues to happen then success will fall on us."
 
The men's team finished the season in the championship match of the Southwestern Athletic Tournament, a match they had never played in before.  The women on the other hand not only made it to the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament, but also finished the season with 11 wins, becoming the first women's team to win over 10 matches in a single season.
 
"Our guy's team really needs to pay attention to the details," Christiansz said.  "I think if we can take care of that we will compete very well.  We've added two players that will solidify our roster and add a little more depth to the team.  So I am looking for the guys to compete well this season."
 
"The girls are going to do well this season, especially in the conference.  We are a little short on depth and that will hurt us.  Right now some of them are injured and that could be a factor for us.  We've made improvements and all of the girls have been working hard and practicing hard and it is going to be another good season for them."
 
Every season since Christiansz has arrived on campus he has tried to upgrade the schedule a little each year and this year is no different playing teams like Mississippi State and later in the season they will face ninth-ranked Alabama.
 
"This (schedule) will be a good test for our teams," Christiansz said.  "I think you are as good as the competition you face and the better the competition the better you become.  I think it will tell us where we need to be and what the team needs to work on."
 
"I told all of our players it is good to play good teams early in the season because it will only make you better and make you want to work harder on the court.  So I think it's a good start to play very good teams."
 
The men return six of the top seven players from last season.  Senior Stefan Vojnic is back and is the current coaching staff's first recruit and has a lot of leadership.  Juniors Adam Coyne, Ronald Mataba and Jarred Thompson have a lot of tennis experience and sophomore's Takura Mlambo and Digivijay Naruka are solid players.
 
The Hornets have added two freshmen to the team this year.  Patrik Cvik hails from Trencin, Slovakia and Karlo Skvorc is from Cakovec, Croatia.
 
Like the men, the women have most of their top players back for the upcoming season.  Nathalie Lorenco is the lone senior on the team and has been around since Christiansz and Assistant Coach Richard Semon arrived at ASU.  Arantixa Wijingaarde and Brianna Fairly are both juniors on the team while Irina Cvijovic and Brankica Orlovic are sophomores.
 
Three newcomers will see action for the first time for the Lady Hornets.  Matabe Akoachere is a sophomore who redshirted last season.  Marine Cartier (Aix-en-Provence, France) and Nicole Tekelova (Briancon, France) are newcomers that will have an opportunity to step in and contribute right away.
 
Live stats for both matches can be kept up with on Saturday and Sunday.  Check with Game Day Central on both days for all of the live action.