MOBILE, Ala. – The No. 71 University of South Alabama men's tennis team heads to Utah this weekend for road matches at Utah and Utah State.

Last weekend, senior Tim Srkala (Brno, Czech Republic) went 3-0 in singles as USA won two straight home matches after losing 4-1 to Southern Miss.

"This past weekend, we played a lot of tennis," said USA head coach Nick Brochu. "We had some good times, and we had some bad times. We got surprised by Southern Miss., and we need to realize that we are more talented than some of the teams we still need to play in order to win."

The Jaguars (7-2) will play Utah Saturday at 2:30 p.m., and Utah State Sunday at 10 a.m.

"Both Utah and Utah State will be very explosive, and we need to make sure that we earn the doubles point," Brochu said. "If we show up on their turf and win the doubles point, I think it's going to make a statement that we came here to get two wins, and that's exactly what we need to do."

Saturday's match will be the first time South Alabama will have played Utah in regular season play. The Utes opened the season 9-0 after going 11-13 last spring. Utah has used a strong singles lineup in its strong start, posting a 38-7 mark, with Johan Jonhagen and Santiago Sierra compiling a combined 16-1 record at the bottom three flights.

"The guys are excited to see someone different, and I think everybody is aware that we can't show up and hope our talent is going to take us that far," said Brochu.

To end the weekend, USA squares off against Utah State for the first time in regular season history. The Aggies have started the season 6-3, including a win over No. 66 UTSA, and have won their last five matches.

"Right now we're working a lot on quick points and being very aggressive because that's the style of tennis we'll see this weekend," Brochu said. "I'm looking forward to seeing some of the guys, especially the older guys, push everybody at practice because once we start a match, everybody is going to be going one-on-one. So, the biggest part of the work has to be done W."

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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