MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men’s tennis team will travel to Norfolk, Va. this weekend to take on Old Dominion Saturday at 10 a.m. and Virginia Commonwealth Sunday at 9 a.m.

“We are excited about this weekend,” USA head coach Nick Brochu said. “We are coming off a great run at the Sun Belt shootout. ODU and VCU are two great teams that compete well. We will have to be tough from the first ball to the last. Last year, we went 1-1 in Virginia. This year, we want to come back with two wins.”

The Jags lead the all-time series with the Old Dominion Monarchs 3-0, but are trailing Virginia Commonwealth 4-7. Last season USA dropped a tough 6-1 decision to the No. 43 VCU Rams before downing Old Dominion 5-2.

After their third place finish at the Sun Belt Shootout April 2-3 the Jaguars advanced their record to 8-9 on the season.

South Alabama is led by this week’s Sun Belt Conference player of the week, sophomore Romain Bocaert, who has tallied a 13-3 mark in duals this spring. Bocaert has won his last seven singles matches from the No. 1 and No. 2 courts, six of them in straight sets. Other top performers for the Jags include junior Lucas Viel (10-6) and sophomore Dauw Kruger (11-4).  

“We have good leadership and our top players are playing great,” said Brochu. “Romain will try to continue his winning streak, and Lucas wants to add more wins to his great record.”

South Alabama first matches up with the Monarchs who are 14-8 entering their match against DePaul this Friday. ODU is fresh off of a 5-2 win over Delaware on March 31.

ODU’s top singles performer is junior Tobias Fanselow who boasts a 19-3 record at the No. 1flight for the spring campaign.

The Jags’ next opponent of the weekend, VCU (10-11), is coming off of a tough 5-2 loss to No. 23 Virginia Tech on April 7.

The Rams’ bring the 25th-ranked singles player in the country, Thibaut Charron, to the battle this weekend. Charron is 15-4 this season in singles action from the No. 1 court. Charron is joined at the top by Tim Johannsen who is 11-5 from the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251)461-1USA(1872).

-USA-