MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's tennis team will commence the 2017 spring season Saturday as one of 60 teams nationally participating in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, hosted by Miami (Fla.).

The Jaguars, seeded third in the Miami regional, will take on No. 22 Texas A&M Saturday at noon, before facing either Brown or the No. 12 Hurricanes on Sunday.

"I'm excited for the start of the season, especially starting with the ITA Kick-Off Weekend," USA head coach Jaco Keyser said. "The top 64 teams in the nation from the year before are in it, so it's a prestigious tournament. It's a reward for the girls having an excellent season last year."

The winner of each regional event will move to the ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships in February, hosted by Yale.

All four schools in the Miami regional finished in the top 60 of the ITA rankings last season, with Miami and Texas A&M earning No. 10 and No. 19 rankings, respectively.

"It's always a little scary starting off with such high-quality competition, but this is an older team with quite a few seniors on it, so they should know what to expect, and sometimes it's the best way to find out where you're at," Keyser commented.

The Aggies went 17-11 last season, including a 4-0 victory over the Jaguars at last year's ITA Kick-Off event, and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. A&M is 2-0 entering the weekend, with wins over Stephen F. Austin and Louisiana Tech.

"We played them last year and they're good – they're always good – but our focus is trying to control what we can control," Keyser said. "I feel like if we play to our capabilities, we should have a shot against most teams."

South Alabama competed in three fall tournaments, most recently the UNF Classic Nov. 4-5. Sophomore Alina Zolotareva (Barnaul, Russia) won her flight at the Thomasville Invitational and took third place at the UNLV Invitational.

Sophomore Alexandria Stiteler (Bradenton, Fla.) is the reigning Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Year after posting a 28-7 overall singles record in 2015-16. She went 18-4 at the top two flights in the spring, was selected to compete in the NCAA Singles Championships, and earned a No. 102 national ranking at the end of the year.

Also returning for the Jaguars are seniors Laura Valkova (Piestany, Slovakia) and Laura Matuskova (Bratislava, Slovakia). Valkova went 20-14 last year en route to her third all-Sun Belt honor, while Matuskova went 25-7, tied Stiteler with a team-best 18 dual-match wins, and was selected to the all-SBC second team.

"That's the exciting part about this year's team – I feel like we can compete in all nine spots," Keyser stated. "One through six, there isn't much of a difference, and that's a nice luxury to have."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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