MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's tennis team hosts its final two home matches of the year when Troy and Louisiana-Lafayette come to the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts Friday and Sunday.

The Jaguars (10-1) will battle Troy Friday at 1 p.m. while the match against ULL starts Sunday at 11 a.m. Admission to all home matches is free.

USA returns to the court after a lengthy break, going over two weeks between matches and playing just once since March 8, a 5-2 win over Texas State.

"I think we've come along well in the last two weeks," Jaguar head coach Jaco Keyser said. "It's good to get some fitness back in and work on that, and we've had some time to go back and correct some mistakes in their own individual game plans that happened at the beginning of the season.

"I think (the break) was great timing for us. As the season progresses, you get burned out mentally so it's been a good 10 days or so to recharge those batteries."

Anchoring the bottom spot in the Jaguar lineup is sophomore Paula Sanchez (Bogota, Colombia), whose eight wins—all at the No. 6 flight—are third-best on the team. She accounted for two points in the Texas State victory and clinched the match with a straight-sets win.

"In order for us to become a good team, not just in the conference in on a national scale, (the) 5 and 6 (spots) carry a little bit of pressure because you've got to be strong in those positions and take care of those positions so you can take the pressure off the higher spots," Keyser said.

After a rough start that saw the Trojans lose four in a row and five of their first seven outings, they have won eight of their last nine matches, including five in a row.

Trang Huynh was tabbed the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Wednesday after a 3-0 mark in both singles and doubles. She is 12-4 overall this spring and 9-3 at the No. 1 flight.

Troy (10-6) trails in the series 6-4, but after last season's 4-2 win in Lafayette, La., it has won three straight over South Alabama.

"I actually think we match up pretty well with them," Keyser said. "They've got a lot of talent and they're on a bit of a hot streak, but I think it's going to be a really good match and two of the better teams in the conference going at it."

While Troy comes into the weekend hot, Louisiana-Lafayette (6-11) enters Sunday's match going the other way. The Cajuns snapped a four-match losing streak March 18 with a 7-0 win over Alcorn State, but are 3-9 since mid-February.

The Jags and Cajuns are plenty familiar with each other, having met four times in the last two seasons alone, all USA victories.

"I would like to think (the familiarity helps) because we've beaten them quite a few times in a row now. But having said that, they have a really good team. Every time we play them it comes down to the wire, it seems. With both teams this weekend we need to be ready to do."

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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