MOBILE, Ala. – Following an undefeated four-match homestand, the University of South Alabama women's tennis team will hit the road Friday to take on Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss. before returning home to host Cornell on Sunday.

First serve with the Golden Eagles is set for 1 p.m. at the USM Tennis Courts. The Jaguars will face the Big Red at 11 a.m. at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.

USA enters the weekend with a 4-0 record and has combined for only two singles losses. Last Friday the Jags hosted a doubleheader with Mercer and Jacksonville State and won both matches 6-1.

"Last weekend was really good for us," said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. "We got some wins and also got some practice within matches. The nice thing is that have a good little streak going to start the season."

Junior Mary Angela Martin (Mobile, Ala.), sophomore Paula Sanchez (Bogota, Columbia) and freshmen Monica Mitta (Fairhope, Ala.) and Laura Valkova (Piestany, Slovakia) each own a 4-0 record this spring and have all won every match in straight sets. Mitta has only dropped three sets total in all four wins.

"All of the girls have been applying what we have been doing in practice and carrying it over to the matches," said Keyser. "They have all been doing really well. Hopefully Monica can keep it up because as it stands right now that's a pretty strong point for us. She's a talented player."

South Alabama leads the all-time series with Southern Miss 12-0. The two teams met last February when the Jaguars downed the Golden Eagles 6-1 at home. USM possesses a 2-3 mark in their spring campaign, dropping their most recent match 4-3 to Northwestern State last Saturday. Carolin Drescher leads the team with a 4-1 record at the No. 2 spot and currently holds a four-match win streak.

Sunday will mark the first-ever meeting between South Alabama and Cornell. The Big Red is 2-2 overall after dropping both matches against Brown (4-2) and Dartmouth (5-2) at the ECAC Indoor Championships Feb. 7 and 8. Alexandra D'Ascenzo is 3-1 in the No. 3 flight and pairs up with Marika Cusick for a 3-0 mark at No. 1 doubles.

"This weekend is going to be a definite step up in competition," said Keyser. "Southern Miss has got a brand new team and some really good players. Cornell is coming off one of their best seasons in recent history, being 14-4 last year. Having said that, we can't worry about what they are going to do. We can only control what we do on our side of the net."

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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