MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's tennis team begins its fall campaign Saturday at the Thomasville Classic.

The three-day event includes West Florida, Valdosta State, Florida A&M, Mercer, and Gwinnett.

"It provides us with a starting point with regards to match play for this year's campaign," said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. 

The Jaguars will be sending junior Patricia Martins (Lisbon, Portugal), sophomore Leslie Soto (Santiago, Chile), and freshmen Nikola Kohoutova (Kralupy nad Vltavou, Czech Republic) and Maxine Palmen (Sittard, Netherlands) to compete in the event. 

"We will be trying to establish our identity and hold ourselves accountable to the level we are striving to compete at during good or bad times during match play," said Keyser.

Martins went 13-6 overall in dual matches last season, and Soto finished with a 5-2 record, winning her last four singles matches.

"Ideally, we will go out this weekend and try to implement and execute what we have done or have been working on in practice," Keyser said.

Play begins Friday at noon.

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).

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: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub

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