MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's tennis team will go for back-to-back conference crowns at the Sun Belt Championships this weekend at the City Park Tennis Courts.

The second-seeded Jaguars will take on No. 7 Texas State at 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

"I feel like we're playing good tennis and we've been building towards this," USA head coach Jaco Keyser said. "This is one of the stronger Sun Belt years we've had in recent memory, so it's going to be a fun, strong tournament.

"Us, Georgia State and Texas-Arlington have been ranked in the top 50 all year, and Louisiana-Monroe and Troy have snuck in the top 75. The Sun Belt is starting to develop into a real strong tennis conference, and that's exciting to see for the future."

South Alabama comes into the tournament off a loss in the regular-season finale at No. 46 – and top seed in the SBC Championships – Georgia State, which snapped a nine-match win streak. The defeat dropped the Jags to 19-5 overall.

"I never feel like a loss helps you, but I think we learned a few things," Keyser said. "Hopefully we can make a few corrections. It was a match we felt like we should have won, but they played well. I hope we get to see them again."

Freshman Alexandria Stiteler (Bradenton, Fla.), holder of a team-best 16-3 spring record playing primarily at No. 1, leads USA into the championships. She is ranked No. 94 in the nation in singles and is 4-1 this season against ranked opponents.

Stiteler has helped the Jaguars, ranked No. 53 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, to a 71.8 singles win percentage this spring. USA is winning better than 76 percent of its singles matches at the top two and bottom two flights.

The Jaguars are 5-0 all-time against Texas State including a 4-1 win in last year's quarterfinals. The two schools will be meeting for the second time in the SBC Championships, and this season after USA's 6-1 victory in Mobile on Feb. 5.

"When we played Texas State earlier this year, we actually lost the doubles point," Keyser noted. "They're a good team and it seems like we play them every year. Every time it's been a competitive, strong match."

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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