HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky's men's tennis heads to the US Air Force Academy for a pair of matches against Colorado-based opponents on Friday, Jan. 18 and Saturday, Jan. 19. The Norse will face host Air Force first at 4 p.m. MT/6 ET on Friday before taking on Northern Colorado in a Saturday tilt at 1 p.m. MT/3 ET on Saturday.
 
Friday's competition will be the back end of Air Force's spring opener, as the Falcons will host CSU-Pueblo prior to the match against NKU. Air Force posted an 11-15 record last year, falling to Fresno State in the 2018 Mountain Valley Conference Championship. The Falcons return five players from last season's singles lineup, including Patrick Sklenka, who also pairs with Isaac Perez in No. 1 singles, at the top of the lineup and Luke Sanderson at the No. 2 singles spot.
 
Northern Colorado is also opening up its spring campaign this weekend, with NKU serving as the first match of the season for the Bears. UNC graduated its top singles player, and Kyle Pease looks to fill that spot after going 11-9 in the No. 2 singles spot last year and 2-0 at the No. 1 spot. Alex Exsted returns as the team's winningest singles player last season, going 15-8 between the bottom three spots of the singles lineup. Last season, the Bears finished 11-13 overall, but went 1-10 in Big Sky action.