LOS ANGELES – The Loyola Marymount University men's tennis team is set to kick off its 2020-21 season this weekend at the Pepperdine Tournament in Malibu, Calif.
"We are all excited to get out and compete as a team," said head coach
Tom Lloyd. "It's been a while and we are looking forward to it."
The Lions will open spring play this week joined by three other Los Angeles area teams, including, USC, UCLA and tournament host, Pepperdine.
LMU boasts six returners, including
Diego Nava, who went undefeated in singles play at the No. 2 spot, giving him a 7-2 overall singles record, while also having an impressive 6-2 doubles record.
Other Lion veterans include
Austin Di Giulio,
Max Kaiser,
Thien Nguyen,
Ethan Prost and
Emin Torlic, who all put on strong showings for the Lions, despite having their 2019-20 season end early.
Although they did not compete their freshman seasons,
John Bryan Otico and
Alvaro Gonzalez, both Lion returners will make their debut this season for LMU. Lloyd welcomes newcomers
Lincoln Bellamy from Los Angeles and
Daniel Moreno from Guadalaraja, Mexico.
Last season, the Lions picked up four team wins in dual play, including conference wins over University of San Francisco and Santa Clara University.
The Lions' first match of their 2020-21 season will start this Friday at 1:30 PM against one of the three Los Angeles teams. LMU will be back on Saturday at 10:00 AM, and will conclude the tournament on Sunday at 1:30 PM. The matches will be played in Malibu, Calif at Pepperdine.
LMU will be taking on a UCLA team that went 9-4 last season, a USC team that went 13-1, and a Pepperdine team that went 8-4.
The last time LMU met with UCLA was in 2019, where the Lions fell 7-0. That same season, LMU met with Pepperdine twice, winning the first match 4-3, and winning the second to kick off the WCC Championship 4-2.
The Lions haven't met with the Trojans for dual play sine 2016, where the team fell to USC 6-1. Live stats and streaming will not be available for this weekend's matches.
