Provo, Utah - The 2024 BYU men’s tennis spring schedule was announced Friday, comprising 20 matches over a four-month span as part of the Cougars’ inaugural Big 12 slate.
The season will open on Thursday, Jan. 11 at San Diego State, with the home opener set for Jan. 30 vs. Omaha.
"The team is excited for the season and to welcome in this new era of competing in the Big 12 Conference, arguably the best tennis conference in the nation," said BYU head coach Zack Warren. "We're excited to represent BYU in new locations and to show different parts of the country what we stand for as a university. We're expecting at least eight top-25 matchups to gear up for, more than any other time in program history. This is a big step towards realizing the long term vision of the program and the development of our student-athletes."
See the full schedule here.
This is Big
Following nearly two months of non-conference play, Big 12 matches begin March 21 as each school will face each other once. Eight of the 14 current conference members sponsor men’s tennis. BYU will first host four Big 12 matches (Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor) in a span of 10 days, followed by road matches at TCU, UCF and Texas Tech to close out the regular season.
Despite only eight participating institutions, the Big 12 is among the elite conferences in NCAA Division I men’s tennis. In the latest ITA singles rankings released on Nov. 15, the Big 12 has 19 student-athletes in the top 125. Among Power 5 conferences, this total trails only the SEC’s 20. Of note, all 14 SEC member institutions sponsor men’s tennis.
Of the 19 recently-ranked Big 12 singles athletes, the conference boasts the top three in the country: Eliot Spizzirri (Texas, No. 1), Micah Braswell (Texas, No. 2) and Jack Pinnington (TCU, No. 3). On the doubles side, seven Big 12 duos are ranked in the latest ITA rankings (top 60), including BYU’s Wally Thayne and Zach Fuchs at No. 35.
Over the last decade, the Big 12 has proved its value at the highest level. Texas earned the 2019 national title as Baylor was most recently the runner-up in 2021. Oklahoma also pieced together a three-year string of runner-up finishes from 2014-16. Last year, six Big 12 teams finished ranked in the top 50, including No. 3 Texas and No. 4 TCU.
Home Sweet Home
BYU will compete in eight home matches. Last season, all six of the Cougars’ victories came in Provo as BYU finished 6-4 as the host.
Over the last five seasons, BYU is 37-9 at home.
A Season of Change
The 2023-24 edition of BYU men’s tennis marks Zack Warren's first year as head coach. Warren joined the program in August after having spent the previous nine years at Cal as Associate Head Coach of the women's team. There, he was a three-time regional assistant coach of the year (2022, 2021, 2015) and guided the Golden Bears to the program's first national indoor title in 2016. Most recently, he helped Cal become back-to-back Pac-12 Conference champions for the first time in program history (2021 & 2022). Warren returns having served as BYU Men's Tennis Assistant Coach from 2009-12 and a member of the men's tennis team from 2004-07.
Alongside Warren is former collegiate teammate and newly-named assistant coach Jonathan Sanchez, who competed at BYU from 2004-08. Sanchez is sixth all-time in career doubles victories at BYU, recording 33 alongside teammate Christian Hand. He spent the previous 13 years as head coach for Concordia University Irvine men’s and women’s tennis and is a two-time conference coach of the year.
Dates and times for each match are subject to change. Any necessary updates - including match changes, streaming options, attendance information, and results - will be shared on the team schedule page and social media accounts.