LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? The 46th-ranked University of South Alabama men’s tennis team opens the 2007 season at No. 29 Louisville on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Jaguars are coming off a 20-8 record last season, a berth in the semifinal of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and finished the season ranked 48th nationally.
Louisville is off to a 3-0 start this season after a 19-8 campaign in 2006 and a Big East Conference Championship. The Cardinals are led this season in singles by senior Slavko Radman who is No. 71 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. In doubles, UL is led by No. 24 Damar Johnson and Radman who have compiled an 11-3 record this season.
No. 19 Louisville escaped the upset last year with a 4-3 victory over South Alabama in the HEB Invitational on Mar. 3, 2006, in Corpus Christi, Texas. The match came down to the No. 5 position as Louisville’s Jhonny Berrido pulled out a hard-fought three set match over Robert Hodel, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Louisville went on to win the HEB Invitational.
The Jaguars feature sophomore Marek Sramek who is ranked No. 20 in the ITA singles ranking and has a 7-1 record during the fall. Senior Dias Doskarayev and junior R.J. Nagel are No. 33 in the ITA doubles rankings. The duo recorded a 3-1 mark during the fall.
In October, head women’s tennis coach Jaco Keyser took over the men’s tennis coaching duties as well when former men’s head coach Scott Novak resigned. USA hired Daniel Silverstein in early January, who will assist with the men’s program under Keyser. Silverstein comes to South Alabama after serving as head women’s coach at West Virginia for the past five years. He also was head men’s and women’s coach at Southeastern Louisiana and UNC-Ashville. Silverstein received his bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University in 1995.
Along with Sramek, Doskarayev and Nagel, the Jaguars return junior Jack Baker who ranked as high as 51st in singles last season and Hodel who is a junior this year. USA has two newcomers in sophomore Craig Dunne who is originally from Brisbane, Australia, but played at Oral Roberts and Hernando Ortiz who is a freshman from Bogata, Columbia.
After the Louisville match, the Jaguars return home to open the home season at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Courts on Feb. 2 against Stetson at 1:30 p.m.
