MOBILE, Ala. - No. 61 University of South Alabama men’s tennis team will head to Atlanta, Ga. this weekend to face No. 60 Georgia State and George Washington at the Blackburn Tennis Center.
USA will face Georgia State Friday at 1 p.m. CST and George Washington Saturday at 2 p.m. CST. Live stats for the Georgia State match can be found here.
The Jaguars enter the weekend with a 2-4 record after falling 4-3 to Southern Miss last Thursday.
“After the match against Southern Miss we realized that we really have to work on doubles,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “Doubles definitely hurt us. We also learned that we have to step up more. Southern Miss came out and they were really hungry. They wanted to win really bad. I’m not saying we took them lightly, but some of the guys may have gone a little too flat and it cost us the match.”
Sophomore Daniel Leitner (Niedfischbach, Germany) leads the team with a 5-0 record at the No. 1 spot. Leitner currently posses a five-match win streak and has defeated two opponents ranked in the top 40 in the nation.
“Daniel sets his expectations for himself really high,” said Brochu. “He has been playing awesome. He has really stepped up and has been working really hard, but he has to understand that even though he’s been doing great there’s still a lot to do. It’s a long season and he has to keep working extremely hard.”
South Alabama leads the all-time series with Georgia State 3-0, but the two teams have not met since 2001. The Panthers currently hold a 6-3 record after facing three teams ranked in the top 75. Victor Valente, ranked 75th in nation, leads GSU with a 6-2 mark at No. 1. He has won all six matches in straight sets and defeated No. 72 Moritz Buerchner of 62nd-ranked North Florida.
“Georgia State is very tough on top,” said Brochu. “They have great No. 1 and No. 2 players. We really have to be aggressive with them this weekend. They’re a very young and talented team. They have a new coach and a lot of energy so it’s going to be a really good match this weekend.”
Saturday will mark the first-ever meeting between South Alabama and George Washington. The Colonials post a 3-3 record in their spring campaign and have faced four opponents ranked in the top 70. GWU dropped their last match 4-0 to Yale on Sunday.
“We’ve never played George Washington and they’re an indoor team so they’re going to be very explosive and aggressive,” said Brochu. “They’re probably going to have big guys with big serves. They’re going to be very aggressive in doubles so I think if we take the doubles point away from them they’re going to be very surprised and that will definitely help us. In singles, we have to establish our game as far as making them run and playing the long points because they’re not used to that. We really have to play smart against them.”
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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