MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama No. 44 men's tennis team will close out the regular season with a home match on senior day against Troy on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts. The program will honor its three seniors – Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Nambia), Juan Cruz Soria (San Juan, Argentina) and Pierre Noyon (Oye-Plage, France) – in a ceremony prior to the match.
 
"This match certainly means a lot to our three seniors," said South Alabama head coach Nick Brochu. "It's kind of going to be an emotional day for them, especially for a guy like Tuki Jacobs who's been playing here for four years. At the same time we have to focus on Troy, who is our big rival and gives us an opportunity to finish the season on a high note."
 
The Jaguars won all three matches last weekend hosted by Middle Tennessee. South Alabama swept the Blue Raiders 4-0, edged out UAB 4-3 for the second victory against the Blazers this year and defeated Valparaiso 4-2 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
 
"We are coming off a very good weekend," said Brochu. "The guys have been playing pretty well. In the three matches we had a different hero or heroes in each match. The team is really looking forward to playing Troy."
 
The three wins helped pushed the Jags up three spots from No. 47 to 44 in the latest ITA Men's National Rankings. Jacobs has continued his streak of being included in the top 100 singles rankings all spring season, and is slotted at No. 98 this week.
 
South Alabama faced Troy in its third match of the spring season on Jan. 15th in the FSU Invitational and lost 4-2 to the Trojans. Troy earned the doubles point and won singles matches in straight sets on courts No. 3, 4 and 6.
 
"I think we have matured a lot since that match," said Brochu. The matchups weren't good at all for us. The way we're playing right now, we're more confident. The doubles point in the previous match was really big, so this time I think we need to be focused more and get the doubles point to get the momentum heading into singles."
 
Troy enters the match with a 10-9 record and has been off for 10-straight days. The Trojans ended a three-match losing streak with two home victories on March 25th, defeating Georgia Southern 4-0 and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College 5-2. South Alabama has an 11-4 record in the all-time series against intrastate foe Troy,
 
Join the Baseline Club, the tennis-specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Baseline Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's and women's tennis programs. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub
 
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).