SAN FRANCISCO — The University of San Francisco men's tennis team is gearing up for the start of the 2019-2020 season and will kick it off with some fall tournaments to set the tone for the new year.

Up first, the Dons will travel to Napa, Calif., this weekend for the Silverado Collegiate Invitational (Sep. 13-15) followed by Battle in the Bay (Sep. 20-22) at home, showcasing the 2019-2020 team.

USF's next tournament will be the ITA Regional tournament starting on October 25 followed by the Pacific Invitational on November 1-3. The Oracle ITA National Fall Championships will be a week later (Nov. 8-11) and the Dons will close out the tournament season at the National Collegiate Classic on January 10-12.

"We are very excited to kick off the fall season next week," said head coach Pablo Pires de Almeida. "Our guys got a lot of experience last year and are ready to work hard this Fall and Spring season with a lot of determination. It's going to be great to see these guys in action."

New additions to the Dons include transfers sophomore Mitch Johnson and freshman Johan Garpered. Pires de Almeida said they are off to a great start and have added a lot of depth to the Dons roster. 

"Last year we had so many close matches and ended the season by beating Pepperdine at home," Pires de Almedia said. "We want to take the positives from that experience and build on it this year."

The Dons will start their dual matches in Southern California as they face Pepperdine on January 17 followed by a match against LMU two days later. The Dons will then go back to non-conference duals, starting with a match against UC Davis (Jan. 23). All of February and most of March will feature more non-conference matches, but the Dons will close out March with a conference dual against the University of the Pacific (Mar. 28).

The Dons will begin April with a road matchup at the University of Portland (Apr. 3), and they will continue North to Spokane, Wash. for a match against Gonzaga on April 5. USF will close out its season with three home matches against the University of San Diego (Apr. 9), BYU (Apr. 11) and Santa Clara University (Apr. 18).

"Our team's overall mission this fall and next spring is to reach our short term weekly goals of improvement and the long term goals of making the conference tournament to have an opportunity to play in the NCAA's," Pires de Almeida said.