MOBILE, Ala. – After a successful weekend in Fort Myers, the University of South Alabama men’s tennis team will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. on Saturday to take on No. 44 Florida State and Furman.
The Jaguars will compete against Florida State at 9 a.m. and play Furman at 4 p.m. Live stats for the FSU match can be seen at http://www.seminoles.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/fsu-m-tennis-live-updates-fsusalabama_12310.html
“We just came off a really good weekend,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “We’re starting to get a pretty good idea of our best combinations. This weekend is going to be a really good test on how we’ve been doing in the off-season. Florida State is a great ACC school. We play them almost every year and every year we get kind of close; this year we’re really going to try and get an upset there. Furman is always strong and should not be taken lightly. Every year they get a couple of key wins and they’re a team with a lot of depth. I think this is going to be a good opportunity for our top players.”
Junior Alex Bernard (Soisy Sur Seine, France) had a great performance at the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational, winning two out of three matches in straight sets. Bernard also combined with four different partners to go undefeated in doubles.
“Alex did great,” said Brochu. “Last year he was the last match in the conference final and he couldn’t close it. I think he really learned from that and is looking forward to having a big year. He started really strong and only lost one match this past weekend, so I think he’s starting to take a bigger role on the team and setting some higher goals for himself.”
Senior captain Romain Bocaert (Lille, France) also went 2-1 in singles action at the FGCU Invitational.
“Romain has always been a leader by example,” said Brochu. “Now he’s starting to be a leader vocally. I think the guys are really looking forward to seeing him get the big wins for us. It’s always tough to play at No. 1, but I think Romain is always supporting the freshmen and helping them at practice.”
Coming off a successful fall season, senior Dauw Kruger (Pretoria, South Africa) is looking to start his final season for South Alabama. He posted a 6-3 mark in singles in the fall, defeating opponents from Boston College, Samford and Louisiana at Lafayette.
“Our seniors are ready for their last season and want to make sure it’s worth something,” said Brochu. I think if we go and play high-level tennis this weekend against those teams it’s going to get us ready for the season.”
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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