Flash Points:

• SFU Men's Tennis has released its 2017-18 schedule.
• The Red Flash will play in four Fall tournaments to prepare for an 18-match Spring schedule.
• The Spring slate includes nine teams who finished in the Top Four of their conference last year.
• Saint Francis set a program record with 15 wins last season and reached the NEC Championship match for the second straight year.

Schedule
 
LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis Men's Tennis Head Coach Rob Castille has released his schedule for the 2017-18 season.  The Red Flash will compete in four invitationals in the Fall and has 18 matches on the slate for the Spring.  The Spring schedule includes four Atlantic 10 opponents, three Patriot League teams, three Horizon League teams, a Big East team and a CAA opponent. A challenging non-conferece schedule will help the Red Flash to prepare for another run at the NEC Championships after reaching the championship match the last two years.
 
The Red Flash will play all of its home matches at Alpha Tennis and Fitness Club (Pittsburgh), The Club Sport and Health (Monroeville) or Greensburg Racquet Club (Greensburg).
 
The Fall schedule begins on September 8-10 when Saint Francis travels to the Bucknell Invitational.  The Red Flash travels to the Greater Cincinnati Invitational the following weekend, September 15-16. 
 
SFU visits the Toledo Invitational on September 29-30 and wraps up its fall schedule at the USTA/ITA Northeast Regional, hosted by Yale, on October 19-22. 
 
"I am looking forward to getting things started this Fall," said Castille. "We are playing in three tournaments that all have strong teams involved, which will allow us to evaluate the returners but more importantly, it will give us a look at our new players. We also have the ITA Regionals which is always special to be a part of."
 
The Red Flash opens the Spring on Friday, January 19 when it travels to James Madison.  The Dukes were 14-9 last season, finishing fifth in the CAA.  The next day, SFU visits Navy for a 6 p.m. match against the Midshipmen, who were 22-18 in 2017 and reached the Patriot League Championship match.
 
Saint Francis meets Wright State for its home opener on Sunday, January 28.  The Red Flash then travels to Lehigh for a 10 a.m. match on February 4.
 
The Red Flash begins a stretch of five straight home matches with a battle against Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, February 10.  The Tartans were ranked 10th in the final ITA Division III poll.  Saint Francis hosts Dayton the following day, with the Flyers coming off a 15-9 campaign.
 
SFU welcomes Bucknell and Detroit the next weekend.  SFU meets the Bison on Friday, February 16 and the Titan on Saturday, February 17.
 
Saint Francis finishes its homestand on Friday, February 23 when it hosts Youngstown State.  The Penguins were 19-8 last season, reaching the Horizon League semifinals.
 
The Red Flash travels to Queens, N.Y. on Friday, March 16 to face St. John's, who finished second in the Big East last year to snap a streak of three straight conference titles.  SFU then opens its NEC schedule on Sunday, March 18 at St. Francis Brooklyn, who the Red Flash defeated in two shutouts last season.
 
Saint Francis welcomes Sacred Heart on Friday, March 23 for an NEC matchup.  The Pioneers finished sixth in the conference last year. 
 
The following weekend, Saint Francis visits Fairleigh Dickinson and Wagner.  The Red Flash meets the Knights on Saturday, March 31 and the Seahawks on Sunday, April 1.  Both teams reached the 2017 NEC Semifinals, with SFU knocking out Wagner in a 4-1 decision.
 
The Red Flash travels to George Washington on Friday, April 6.  The Colonials finished second in the Atlantic 10 with a 17-7 record.  SFU then visits Mount St. Mary's on April 7 to take on the fifth place NEC team from a year-ago.
 
The regular season concludes with home matches against St. Bonaventure and Duquesne.  SFU hosts the Bonnies on Friday, April 13 for Senior Day.  SFU then welcomes Duquesne on Saturday, April 14.
 
The NEC Championships begin on Friday, April 20 at the Mercer County Tennis Center in West Windsor, N.J.
 
"In the Spring, we have a strong non-conference schedule that will help us prepare for our conference matches and our conference tournament," said Castille. "The competition in our conference keeps getting stronger each year so we are happy to have added some strong teams to our schedule like James Madison, George Washington and St. John's. This will only help us prepare for the top teams in our conference when we come up against them."
 
The Red Flash went 15-5 last season, including 4-0 in NEC matches and 7-0 in home matches.  Saint Francis defeated St. Francis Brooklyn and Wagner in the NEC Tournament to reach the NEC Championship match for the second straight year, earning a re-match with Bryant.  However, SFU fell 4-1 in the championship match.

Franz Luna picked up NEC Rookie of the Year honors after leading the NEC in wins and ranking third in win percentage.  He was also a First Team All-NEC selection at No. 2 singles.

Senior Alec Dylan Foo-Kune (Phoenix, Mauritius/International Connections Academy (Md.)) and sophomore Arturo Dell'Eva return after earning Second Team All-NEC accolades.