MOBILE, Ala. ? Just one day after the South Alabama men’s tennis team learned where it will play for the NCAA Tournament, the Jaguars received more good news as sophomore Marek Sramek was named to the NCAA Individual Tournament, beginning May 17 in Athens, Ga.
Sramek, who currently is ranked 51st nationally, led the Jaguars with a 27-3 record for the year and a 20-2 mark in dual matches this spring. Sramek helped lead the Jaguars to their 17th Sun Belt Conference title and a 21-4 record. He began the year by going 7-1 in tournament play during the fall, including earning a berth in the semifinals of the Southern Intercollegiate (Sept. 8-11) before falling to eventual champion John Isner from Georgia. After that loss, Sramek won 13-straight matches for the longest winning streak of the season by a Jaguar.
Sramek is one of three Sun Belt Conference players to be selected. Adam Homstrom of Denver and Olivier Sajous of Florida Atlantic also were selected.
He is the first Jaguar to play in the Individual portion of the NCAA Tournament since 2004 when Franticek Babej lost to Micahel Kogan of Tulane in the semifinals. During Babej’s run, he knocked off four ranked players including No. 2 Benedikt Dorsch of Baylor.
The Jaguars, ranked 28th this week by the ITA, travel to Oxford, Miss., where they will take on No. 38 Minnesota out of the Big 10 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on May 11.
