DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's and women's tennis teams will play the first match of their respective seasons at 1 p.m. on Tuesday when both teams travel to Lakeland to take on conference foe Southeastern.

The men's team, which is celebrating the program's 25th season of competition, boasts another strong lineup with the return of six individuals from last season's NAIA national semifinal squad, including the top three singles players and four of the top six. Headlining the returners are senior Chris Freeman and juniors Patrick Besch and Simon Felix.  Freeman and Besch represent the last two ITA/NAIA National Singles champions as Freeman captured the title in 2011 and Besch took home the crown in 2012, one year after teaming up with Adrian Bayh for the national doubles trophy. Besch partnered with Felix to finish as runners-up in last fall's doubles championship.

Besch enters the spring season as the No. 1 ranked singles player according to the ITA/NAIA National poll. Freeman is ranked fifth in singles and ninth in the doubles poll in tandem with sophomore J.R. Leonik. Besch and Felix are the second-ranked doubles team, with Felix holding the No. 13 spot in the singles poll. Senior David Spennare, the winner of the 2013 ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Sportsmanship and Leadership is ranked No. 31.

The women's squad will look very different from a year ago with the departure of four seniors, all of whom were All-Americans and controlled four of the top five spots in the Eagle lineup. Returning to lead the Eagles' 2013 campaign are juniors Kristina Marova and Paola Montero. The duo enjoyed a successful doubles partnership in 2012, compiling a 22-5 ledger and finish at No. 19 in the ITA national rankings while anchoring the No. 3 doubles spot.

ERAU Head Coach experimented with a new partnership in the fall, paring Marova with newcomer Hui-I Huang. The experiment paid off as Marova and Huang, who was a redshirt last season, finished third at the ITA/NAIA National doubles championship. The duo will begin the spring season ranked fourth in the nation.

Huang is ranked seventh nationally in the singles poll after finishing as the USTA/ITA Florida Regional runner-up. Marova is ranked 21st after compiling a 21-8 record in 2011-12.