MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's tennis team returns to action this week with a pair of tournaments. Loïc Cloes will compete at the Oracle ITA Masters in Malibu, Calif., while the rest of the team is scheduled to compete at the Southern Miss Invitational this weekend in Hattiesburg, Miss.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Tournament Name: Oracle ITA Masters
Host: Malibu Racquet Club / Pepperdine
Dates: 9/26-29
Place: Malibu Racquet Club and Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center (Malibu, Calif.)

ON THE COURT FOR THE JAGUARS
- Loïc Cloes (Sr., Oreye, Belgium, 3-0 Singles, 2-1 Doubles)

NOTES
- Cloes enters play this week with a 3-0 singles record this fall and dating back to the end of last season, the senior has an 18-match win streak in singles play.
- Cloes will open up play at the Oracle with mixed doubles action, followed by first round of singles play and then close out with second round play of mixed doubles.
- The finals are scheduled for Sept. 29 at the Malibu Racquet Club with the women's final beginning at 11:30 a.m. (PT) and the men's championship following at 1:30 p.m. (PT).
- ESPNU will re-air the finals on Oct. 1 (women) and Oct. 2 (men) beginning at 3 p.m. (CT) both days. The ESPN family of networks will broadcast the Oracle ITA Masters to a national audience for the second consecutive year.
- Seven of the Top 25 men's players in the 2019-20 Oracle ITA Division I Preseason national rankings are scheduled to compete.
- The men's singles champion will earn automatic entry into the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships scheduled for Nov. 6-10 in Newport Beach, Calif.
- Twice in its brief history, the Oracle ITA Masters champion has gone on to capture the NCAA singles championship in the same season.
- The Oracle ITA Masters marks the first of four tournaments hosted by the ITA during the fall. The other events are the ITA All-American Championships presented by Saint Francis Health System (Oct. 5-13; Tulsa, Okla.); ITA Cup (Oct. 17-20; Rome, Ga.) and Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.


Tournament Name: Southern Miss Invitational
Host: Southern Mississippi
Dates: 9/28-29
Place: Southern Miss Tennis Center (Hattiesburg, Miss.)
Field: Alabama, New Orleans, South Alabama, William Carey

ON THE COURT FOR THE JAGUARS
- Ezra Blissard (Sr., Van Vleet, Miss., 0-0 Singles, 0-0 Doubles)
- Martin Bugaj (Fr., Hodonín, Czech Republic, 2-2 Singles, 1-2 Doubles)
- Sébastien Collard (Fr, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, 2-2 Singles, 1-2 Doubles)
- Louis Delcour (So., Lille, France, 0-0 Singles, 0-0 Doubles)
- Clément Marzol (Sr., Toulouse, France, 2-1 Singles, 3-1 Doubles)
- Leon Pet'ko (Fr., Bratislava, Slovakia, 0-0 Singles, 0-0 Doubles)

NOTES
- South Alabama's contingent are scheduled to open up play at the tournament on Saturday with a doubles round and a pair of singles rounds.
- The Jags will then close out competition on Sunday with a pair of doubles rounds and a singles round.
- This fall marks the fourth time in the last five years and sixth time in the last eight that the Jaguars have participated in the Southern Miss Invitational since 2011.

UP NEXT
- Following this week's play, South Alabama will compete at the ITA All-America (Oct. 5-13) in Tulsa, Okla., and the Samford Round Robin (Oct. 4-6) in Birmingham, Ala.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Nick Brochu
- On Loïc Cloes at the Oracle ITA Masters: "It's very exciting to have Loïc represent the Sun Belt Conference at the Oracle. He will be facing some of the best players in the country so it's definitely a great opportunity for him to play against highly ranked players and give himself an opportunity to earn a national ranking in singles. At the same time, he will have a chance to see some opponents that we don't always have an opportunity to face. It's going to be very challenging, but at the same time very exciting and a great experience for Loïc. This is a first-class tournament that offers high-level tennis for both men and women."

- On the Southern Miss Invitational: "Southern Miss is going to be a good tournament for the rest of our team. All six of the players that we are taking over there will be able to play three singles and three doubles matches. It's a good round-robin tournament where we are able to gain more match experience for our freshmen who all did well the first weekend of play, but we need to continue to get them experience.

"For the returning players, we are still looking for consistency. I thought that Clem [Marzol] had an excellent tournament at Alabama. He just need to keep that going. We need to push hard and take care of business this weekend."

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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