MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s tennis team kicks off its three-match home stand Wednesday at 1 p.m. on the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts against Nicholls State.
Wednesday will mark the fifth meeting of USA and Nicholls. The Jaguars lead the all-time series with the Colonels 3-1.
“Wednesday is a great starting point for us,” said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. “I am extremely excited because I feel like we should be very competitive. We have a lot of new faces and having such a young team it’s going to be key for us to try to take what we’ve been doing at practice with discipline and focus and take that into the matches.”
USA returns two players from last year’s squad: seniors Alina Volman (Lugansk, Ukraine) and Chané Hines (Johannesburg, South Africa).
Volman posted a 4-3 mark in singles and went 3-3 in doubles during the fall season, while Hines had a 0-2 record in singles and 1-2 in doubles.
“Our seniors have done a good job as captains,” said Keyser. “They know that every single person on the team will have to contribute and do their part. For us to be successful, everyone will have to give 110 percent everyday.”
Collectively, the Jaguars had an overall record of 31-28 in singles and 16-7 in doubles matches in the fall campaign.
South Alabama added five new players to the roster this year including sophomore Emily Newton (Dothan, Ala.) and freshmen Ramona Ghermani (Bad Wimpfen, Germany), Veronika Kalugina (Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia), Mariya Krachok (Kiev, Ukraine) and Mary Angela Martin (Mobile, Ala.).
Krachok had a very successful fall posting a 5-3 mark in singles and paired up with Martin to go 3-0 in doubles matches.
“I think we had a good fall season,” said Keyser. “We got plenty of matches in, sprinkled with some good results that really helped prepare us for the spring.”
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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