Lobos To Host 2025 Jack Kennedy Classic
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The third annual Jack Kennedy Classic will take place this weekend, with the University of New Mexico hosting Wichita State and No. 67 Santa Clara at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium. The Lobos will take on Wichita State on Friday at noon and Santa Clara on Sunday at 11 am. Wichita State and Santa Clara will play each other on Saturday at 11 am in the neutral site match.
The matches are the home opening matches for UNM this season as the Lobos have opened the season with nine consecutive matches on the road. The Lobos are 4-5 on the season and are coming off back-to-back close losses to nationally-ranked foes Middle Tennessee State (No. 45) and Utah (No. 55) by 4-2 scores.
Wichita State is 5-5 on the season. The Shockers have won three straight, and among their five losses are close 4-3 losses to Arkansas, Boise State and Texas Tech. Santa Clara is 8-4 and ranked No. 67 in the latest ITA rankings. Alex Watanabe Eriksson is currently ranked No. 104 in singles. UNM has a ranked doubles pairing with Aram Noroozian and Georgio Samaha currently ranked No. 70.
The Lobos have five of the next six matches at home as UNM and six straight matches in New Mexico as the only road match is at New Mexico State next week.
New Mexico won each of the first two Jack Kennedy Classic Tournaments, in 2023 and 2024. Those two tournaments were the season opening matches in those seasons.