INDIANAPOLIS –University of South Alabama senior Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) has been selected to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships, it was announced Wednesday. At No. 78 in the latest Oracle/ITA Division I Men's National Singles Rankings, Jacobs earned an automatic bid as the top ranked singles player in the Sun Belt Conference.
 
"Tuki has worked hard all year long, actually all 4 years, to reach the level he is at now," said South Alabama head coach Nick Brochu. "He deserves this honor to play with the best in the nation and will be a good representative of the Sun Belt. I'm very happy for him since he is a senior. It's a great way to conclude his college career."
 
A complete bracket with pairings will be released at a later date.
 
Jacobs was one of 15 automatic qualifiers for the tournament, held May 24-29 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.
 
The last Jag to compete in the singles championships was Daniel Leitner in 2015
 
Winning the conference's player of the year award for the past two seasons, Jacobs has notched a 24-6 record overall this season and a 15-4 in dual matches. Splitting time with teammate Juan Cruz Soria (San Juan, Argentina) on the top two flights, Jacobs went 11-3 on court No. 1 and 6-1 on court No. 2.
 
Ranked in the top 100 in the ITA singles rankings in all but one week of the spring season, Jacobs won 13 of his first 14 matches to start the season and was ranked as high as No. 50. He knocked off three ranked opponents during that time: No. 71 Aziz Dougaz of Florida State (6-4, 1-6, 6-4), No. 74 North Florida's Jack Findel-Hawkins (3-6, 6-2, 6-3) and No. 84 Zack Kennedy of Georgia State (4-6, 6-2, 6-4). His win over Findel-Hawkins helped him earn conference player of the week for the third time in his career.
 
Jacobs notched another win over Kennedy (2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3) in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Finals and has won his last four singles matches.
 
In the fall Jacobs split a pair of matches in the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships including win over No. 4 seed and then No. 57 Ryan Peniston of Memphis in the qualifying rounds..
 
Join the Baseline Club, the tennis-specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Baseline Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's and women's tennis programs. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub.
 
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