MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s tennis team will take on Lamar University Saturday at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts in their 2011 spring home opener at 11 a.m.

“We are looking forward to getting out on the courts again,” said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. “We’ve had a nice little block of time to practice. We’ve been looking good in practice so it’ll be very interesting to see how we shape up in this match.”

The Jaguars lead the all-time series with the Lady Cardinals 8-0. The teams have not met since 1998 when USA blanked Lamar 9-0 at home.

 South Alabama enters the match looking to improve their 0-2 record. The Jags are coming off of a two-loss weekend (Feb. 5-6) in Lafayette, La. where they dropped matches to McNeese State (5-2) and Louisiana at Lafayette (6-1).

USA junior Alina Volman (Lugansk, Ukraine) is 1-1 in dual matches and 5-4 overall so far this season. On Feb. 5 Volman downed Louisiana at Lafayette’s Aubrey Wooland, ranked No. 18 in the Southern region, in straight sets 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Volman has paired with junior Chané Hines (Johannesburg, South Africa) to post a 1-1 mark in the spring campaign.

Lamar boasts the No. 3 doubles tandem in the Texas region in Mariayeni Gutierrez and Kaltrina Harbuzi. The Lady Cardinals also have four players who are undefeated in singles: Gutierrez at No. 1 (4-0), Harbuzi at No. 2 (4-0), Diana Mendez at No. 5 and No. 6 (4-0) and Helene Czudek at No. 6 (2-0).

The Lady Cardinals travel to Mobile to defend their 4-0 record in dual matches this spring. Lamar edged Sun Belt Conference competitor Arkansas State 4-3 at the end of a four-match homestand on Feb. 20.

Admission to all South Alabama home matches is free.

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

-USA-