St. John’s University has released the 2026 spring schedule for its women’s tennis team, as announced by Head Coach Lauren Leo. The upcoming season will feature 20 matches, including six within the BIG EAST Conference. Ten of these contests are scheduled to take place at home venues, namely the USTA National Tennis Center and Cunningham Park.
The Red Storm finished last season with a 14-7 record and reached the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals for the tenth consecutive year. Coach Leo will return six players from last year’s roster and add two new members for the 2025–26 campaign.
The team’s season opener is set for January 16 in Fort Myers, Florida, against Florida Gulf Coast, followed by a match against Miami Ohio on January 18. St. John’s will play its first home match on January 30 versus Fairfield at the USTA National Tennis Center; last year, St. John’s defeated Fairfield 4–1.
A February 1 away match against Princeton marks their first meeting since 2014. The Johnnies then host Rider (February 6), Monmouth (February 8), and Hofstra (February 13) in a three-match homestand.
On February 14, St. John’s faces Yale with details yet to be finalized.
BIG EAST play begins at home on February 20 against UConn at 12:15 p.m. In their previous encounter, Noemi Babikova won her singles match but St. John’s lost narrowly to UConn.
The team hosts New Haven on February 27 at the USTA National Tennis Center in what will be New Haven’s first Division I matchup following their move to NCAA Division I status in July 2025.
St. John’s travels to Providence on February 28 for its first BIG EAST road contest; they have won their last seventeen meetings with Providence since 2004.
During spring break, the squad plays two matches in Florida: against Stetson in DeLand on March 3 and Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach on March 4.
Back in Queens, St. John’s meets DePaul for a BIG EAST matchup on March 13 at noon. Last season saw St. John’s come back from a three-point deficit to defeat DePaul after wins by Gomez and Babikova secured victory.
The Red Storm then travel to Saint Joseph’s (March 20) and Villanova (March 22) before returning home for matches against Georgetown (March 28), FDU (April 1), and Seton Hall (April 4). The regular season concludes with an away game at Stony Brook on April 10.
The BIG EAST Tournament presented by JEEP is scheduled for April 16–19 at Cayce Tennis and Fitness Center in South Carolina.
“Dates, times and locations are subject to change,” according to Coach Lauren Leo’s announcement.
