MOBILE, Ala. – With the first fall tournament behind them, the University of South Alabama men’s tennis team will head to Hattiesburg, Miss., Friday for a round robin tournament.
USA will be one of eight teams participating in the Southern Miss Fall Invitational. The Jags will face opponents from Lamar, New Orleans, Nicholls State, Stetson, Troy, Southern Miss and UAB.
“This coming weekend is going to be tougher than last weekend,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “It’s our second tournament. The teams are going to be a little better, but we are expecting the guys to dominate like they did last week.”
South Alabama will be sending senior Cody Hall (Albuquerque, N.M.), junior Shayann Vaezzadeh (Bavent, France) and sophomores Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany), Blake Gregor (Griffith, New South Wales, Australia), Sebastian Kirmse (Lauffen, Germany) and Jan Hellmich (Muelheim, Germany).
All six players participated in the UNO Big Easy Tennis Classic last weekend.
“We got some really good momentum this past weekend,” said Brochu. “We had some guys that were undefeated. Other guys had some great results, better than we were expecting. I think they have really good confidence now going into our second tournament.”
Leitner and Vaezzadeh each advanced to the Flight 1 singles championship. Leitner won 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.
“Winning the tournament was definitely a good feeling,” said Leitner. “It was the first time I have won since being here at South. I was a little nervous in the final, but it made it little easier to be playing one of my teammates.”
Gregor claimed the Flight 2 title and went 3-0 on the weekend. Leitner and Hall teamed up to win the Flight 1 doubles crown.
“The fall is all about testing yourself and seeing how tough you are,” said Brochu. “Last week they guys showed they’re really tough so I’m looking forward to seeing good results from them again.”
Singles play will start things off on Friday morning. The Jaguars will take on UNO at 8:30 a.m., followed by Stetson at 12:30 p.m. and face Troy in doubles at 4:30 p.m.
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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