Bracket
MOBILE, Ala.– The University of South Alabama men’s tennis team will play host to the 2011 Sun Belt Conference Championships this Thursday through Saturday.
The third-seeded Jags are looking to add to their 16 SBC Tournament titles and will do battle with the No. 6 seed, Troy.
The tournament will be held at the Bruce Davis Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts and the Mobile Tennis Center. First serve is set for 2p.m. Thursday morning.
“We had a great end of the season,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “We have a lot of confidence after beating a great UCF team. We still have some injuries, but we are happy to have Lucas (Viel) back in the lineup. ”
USA took on the Trojans earlier this season, defeating them on their home courts 5-2 and downing them 4-3 to secure seventh place at this year’s Sun Belt Shootout.
“We have played Troy twice this spring,” said Brochu. “We won both, but it was always a good fight. We need to have a good start and to put the pressure on them from the beginning.”
South Alabama leads the all-time series with Troy 12-1. Last season the 68th-ranked Trojans topped USA 4-3 in Mobile to gain their first win of the series.
The Jaguars enter the tournament with a 7-8 record after splitting weekend matches in Denver, Colo. on April 8-9. South Alabama was edged by No. 73 Denver 4-3 before they defeated Central Florida 4-3.
In their last showing at the SBC Championships in 2009, the Jags dropped a tough 4-2 decision to the No. 4 seed Denver in the quarterfinals.
South Alabama’s top performers include senior Lucas Viel (Boussy-Saint-Antoine, France) and juniors Romain Bocaert (Lille, France) and Dauw Kruger (Pretoria, South Africa).
Bocaert, ranked No. 17 in the Southern region, is 12-9 overall and 7-7 in dual matches. He is one of two players on this year’s squad to receive an SBC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week nod.
Kruger, the Jaguars’ other player of the week honoree, is 20-8 overall and 11-4 in his spring campaign. He is undefeated at No. 5 singles and currently holds a seven-match win streak.
The No. 20 player in the Southern region, Viel, returned to action April 3 after missing nine matches due to a broken left foot. He has posted a 9-3 mark overall and went 3-1 in the spring season. Viel has not lost a match at No. 1 singles this spring.
Viel and Bocaert partner up to form the No. 44 doubles tandem in the country and the No. 4 duo in the Southern region. The pair went undefeated in dual matches and holds an 8-2 overall record.
“We feel very confident in doubles,” said Brochu. “The entire season doubles has been our strength. That point is always very important in the conference tournament.”
Troy is 3-16 coming into the championships. They lost their last match on April 8 to UAB 4-3 in Troy, Ala.
Anas Rouchdi paced the Trojans this season with a 7-10 record in dual matches and posted a 5-2 mark on the No. 1 court.
Mario Rolemberg and Branko Weber make up Troy’s top doubles team going 6-6 in the No. 1 flight in their spring campaign.
The winner of Friday’s match will take on either No. 2 Florida Atlantic or No. 7 Western Kentucky Friday at 2 p.m.
Admission to all tournament matches is free. For more information about the SBC Men’s Tennis Championships go to www.sunbeltsports.org.
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).
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