MOBILE, Ala. – Backed by a 14-0 school-record start to the season, the University of South Alabama women's tennis team heads to Atlanta, Ga. to take on a pair of Sun Belt foes for the first time.  

Fresh off of a 7-0 sweep of Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday, USA will face Appalachian State on Thursday and Georgia Southern on Friday, with both matches set for 10 a.m.

"At the moment, I think we have a lot of confidence. This past weekend was one of those strange weekends where we ran through Louisiana Tech after expecting a real tough match, and then the following day, we took care of Louisiana-Lafayette pretty good," said USA head coach Jaco Keyser. "I think a lot of the things we're doing in practice are now coming automatically within matches. We're not thinking as much out there and it's more reacting and letting it flow a lot better."

The Jaguars have lost only three doubles matches this season, recording a 31-3 mark overall. Senior Emily Newton (Dothan, Ala.) and partner sophomore Laura Valkova (Piestany, Slovakia) are 7-0 on the No. 1 court, while senior Mary Angela Martin (Mobile, Ala.) and junior Michaela Meszarosova (Bratislava, Slovakia) are 6-0 at No. 2.

"One of the fortunate things about this team is we're extremely deep," said Keyser. "The players at the bottom are fighting for playing time, so that automatically brings a competitive edge to our practices. Obviously that makes my job easier. They can self-motivate, and we don't have to stay on them day in and day out."

Sophomore Laura Matuskova (Bratislava, Slovakia) remains undefeated at the Nos. 5 and 6 positions in singles with a 13-0 mark on the season. She has won all but one match in straight sets, dropping just eight games in her last three outings. Martin is 12-1 at the bottom three positions, with ten of her wins coming in straight sets.

Appalachian State advanced to 7-12 overall after snapping its nine-match losing streak and blanking Western Carolina 7-0 Sunday. In doubles, Melissa Machado and Megan Mullen are 9-7 at the No. 2 flight, while Clare Cox is 13-6 at No. 1 singles, winning her last three matches in straight sets.

The Mountaineers take on King (Tenn.) University in their final home match today before facing South Alabama Thursday.

Georgia Southern enters the weekend 10-4, defeating South Carolina-Upstate 4-1 Sunday in their final home match of the season. The No. 3 duo of Jordana Klein and Giulia Riepe are 10-3, while Anne Kurzweil is 11-0 at the No. 3 spot in singles, with eight straight-set wins.  

"I think confidence is a great thing, especially with this group; they feed off that confidence," said Keyser. "Obviously the trap is there; as long as we don't get complacent, and remember the reasons why we got the confidence: taking care of the little details, having good practices, etc., I think the confidence will work to our advantage as we move forward."

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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