MOBILE, Ala. — The University of South Alabama men's tennis team heads to the Starkville, Miss., regional for the second consecutive year to compete in the NCAA Tournament on May 3-4. 

Joining the Jaguars in Starkville for the first and second rounds of the tournament are the host, No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 40 Tulane, and the four seed in the region, Alabama State. South Alabama drew the three seed and will take on the Green Wave in the first round on May 3. 

ROUND 1 MATCH INFORMATION
Date: May 3 at 10 a.m. 
Opponent: No. 40 Tulane. 
Place: A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, Starkville, Miss. 
Host: Mississippi State University. 

ROUND 2 (If South Alabama Advances) 
Date: May 4 at 1 p.m.
Opponent: Winner of No. 7 Mississippi State/Alabama State. 
Place: A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, Starkville, Miss. 
Host: Mississippi State University.

NOTES
The Jaguars enter the NCAA tournament for the 13th time after winning their 18th Sun Belt Championship. South Alabama has a 7-12 all-time record in the NCAAs and last got a win against No. 21 Memphis a season ago on the same courts in Starkville. 

South Alabama enters Starkville riding a five-match win streak and has complied an 18-6 record this spring. The Jags take the No. 75 ranked doubles pair of Loic Cloes and Clement Marzol into the weekend with a 9-8 dual match record. Cloes has managed a 15-match win streak on the singles court and clinched the Sun Belt Title for the Jags with a come from behind victory over Georgia State. Marzol, who spent a portion of the season ranked among the top 125 singles players, has amassed a 13-6 record in singles and has won five matches in a row, including winning three matches for the Jags at the Sun Belt Championships. 

The Jags will match up against the No. 40 ranked Tulane Green Wave, out of the American Athletic Conference, on May 3. Tulane comes in with a 14-12 record. They last took the courts in the opening round of the AAC Tournament, losing 3-4 to the seven seeded Temple Owls. 

Tulane boasts the nations No. 65 and 95 ranked singles players in Ewan Moore and Luis Erlenbusch respectively. Moore is 11-9 on court one for the season while Erlenbusch plays primarily at number three, and has amassed a 7-2 record on that court.  

No. 7 Mississippi State is hosting a regional for the second straight year. The Bulldogs are 22 and 15-3 against ranked opponents in dual matches the season. They won the SEC Tournament with a 4-1 win over Tennessee. 

The Bulldogs have a pair of players ranked among the top 125 in singles and two doubles teams in the top 27 of the ITA rankings. Nuno Borges is the second ranked player in the country, coming into the regional with a perfect 23-0 record on court one. Giovanni Oradini sits at No. 70 with a 12-8 spring record. Borges and Strahinja Rakic enter the weekend with a No. 3 ranking and a dual match record of 15-6 while Niclas Braun and Oradini come in at No. 27 with a 14-2 spring record. 

Alabama State enters the regional as the automatic qualifier from the Southwest Athletic Conference. The Hornets defeated Alabama A&M, 4-1 to win the SWAC Championship and come into the NCAA Tournament with a 12-9 record. 

ON THE COURT FOR THE JAGS 
Loic Cloes (Jr., Oreye, Belgium, 18-4 Singles, 13-10 Doubles) 
Louis Delcour (Fr., Lille, France, 14-6 Singles, 9-6 Doubles) 
Santiago Di Loreto (So., Buenos Aires, Argentina, 3-0 Singles, 4-8 Doubles) 
Maxime Lapraille (So., Ophain, Belgium, 12-5 Singles, 11-6 Doubles)
Clement Marzol (Jr., Toulouse, France, 13-6 Singles, 10-10 Doubles) 
Sacha Modica (Sr., London, England, 11-6 Singles, 10-6 Doubles) 
Sam Serrano (Sr., Cartagena, Colombia, 13-7 Singles, 11-5 Doubles)

UP NEXT
The winner of South Alabama vs. Tulane will meet the winner of Mississippi State vs. Alabama State on Saturday, May 4 at 1 p.m for the right to move on to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. 

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Nick Brochu
On going back to Starkville: "I think the guys are comfortable going there. We have played there, having played two matches in the NCAA Tournament last year. There were 300-plus people there last year, so I don't think the guys are going to be that nervous. I think they are excited because of what we did last year. They are hungry, they want to get back to the second round, and have another shot at Mississippi State. But at the same time, Tulane is a great program. They had some big wins early in the year. The talent is definitely there with Tulane, they are well coached. This week has been a little hard because of finals. Trying to juggle practice, studying, and taking finals. Wednesday is the last day for finals though, guys will get to relax and we had a great practice last night. We will have a great practice today as well and get ready for tomorrow." 

On having the experience: "I think once you're done with school you're just relaxed and ready to play. It's the best feeling ever. We saw this last year against Memphis. The guys were so loose and they played unbelievable. And even against Mississippi State in the second round we played great tennis." 

"Sam has been there, it's one of the reasons we brought him in. He has been to ITA Nationals with his previous team, he has been to the ITA Kickoff. He has seen the big scene. The only guy without experience is Louis. At the same time though, he is so excited. We have been working a lot this semester with him to relax and not feeling any pressure. The guys are looking forward to play. We are just going to go out and play without any pressure. At this point it's all positive. If we win, great, if we lost, it was still a great season. We are just going to go out there and play our best."

PARKING INFO 
With graduation going on at Mississippi State this weekend. Anyone traveling to Starkville to watch the Jags take on Tulane in the first round of the NCAA tournament this Friday is asked to park at Zacharias Village, where a shuttle bus will take them to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/baselineclub

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