MOBILE, Ala. – For the third-straight year, the University of South Alabama men's tennis team will head to Corpus Christi, Texas for the 48th Annual H-E-B Tournament of Champions on Friday.

The event will take place Feb. 28-March 1 at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center and the H-E-B Tennis Center.

The Jaguars enter the weekend with a three-match win streak under their belt and a 7-3 mark in their spring campaign. South Alabama completed its seven-match homestand with a 4-3 victory over Southern Miss last Wednesday. Junior Manuel Belda (Posadas, Misiones, Argentina) secured the win for USA when he outlasted Paulo Alvarado 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 in the No. 2 flight.

"Southern Miss is a very emotional team," said USA head coach Nick Brochu. "Once they get hot, you're playing a completely different team. Our goal was to contain them and make sure we kept them on the run. We didn't start the right way with doubles, but we went into singles on fire. The guys responded very well and some of the leaders on the team really took care of business."

Junior Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany), who moved up into a tie for 94th in the latest ITA rankings, remains undefeated and picked up his ninth-straight win against Brad Marriott of USM. Leitner is now 9-0 this spring season, with eight of those victories coming in straight sets.

"Daniel's win got us on the board quickly and gave everyone some confidence," said Brochu. "He's really been doing well for us this season."

Teams included in this weekend's tournament are host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Louisiana-Lafayette, DePaul, Southern Methodist, Western Michigan, Tulane and Texas-San Antonio.

South Alabama will open the tournament against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The all-time series between the two teams is tied at 1-1. TAMUCC defeated USA 4-0 last March. The Islanders are 9-5 overall, with their most recent victory coming from a 4-3 win over Texas-Arlington on Monday. Peter Nagy leads TAMUCC with a 10-2 mark at the No. 1 spot, and eight of his 10 wins being in straight sets.

"We've gotten some time off since our last match to prepare for the H-E-B tournament," said Brochu. "We need to work on doubles and find the right pairs for the tournament. The environment this weekend will be very tough. It's such a good tournament. We have to get ready for anything."

The Jaguars are set to take on the Islanders Friday morning at 9 a.m. at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.

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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