Live Scoring (Both Matches) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – No. 69 University of North Florida men's tennis plays its first Atlantic Sun Conference matches on its home courts this weekend, facing Kennesaw State on Thursday at Noon and USC Upstate on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the UNF Tennis Complex.
"We cannot wait for the conference home opener this weekend," said head coach
Mark Finnegan. "One of our biggest goals all season was to defend the nest. We are 6-0 so far and hope to keep that up this weekend. Kennesaw State and USC Upstate are both well-coached, so I know we are in for a battle."
The match time with Kennesaw State is a change due to anticipated weather expected on Thursday afternoon.
The Ospreys come off a 2-0 performance last weekend to start Atlantic Sun competition, defeating Lipscomb 4-1 and Northern Kentucky 7-0 in back-to-back days. As a result of his play last weekend,
Yannick Zuern was tabbed as the Atlantic Sun's Men's Tennis Player of the Week earlier on Wednesday.
UNF continued its stay in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Team Rankings that were released on Tuesday. The Ospreys remained steady at No. 69 for the second-straight week. Meanwhile,
Jack Findel-Hawkins came in at No. 93 in the Singles Rankings. The duo of
Norbert Nemcsek and Findel-Hawkins moved up to No. 52 in the Doubles Rankings.
Kennesaw State comes into Thursday with a 5-8 record on the season, but is 0-2 in the Atlantic Sun after falling to both Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson last weekend. The Owls have dropped their last three matches, including a 2-4 loss at Troy on Mar. 15. In singles, Kennesaw State owns a winning record on the No. 1 court behind Simon Pritchard's 8-4 mark. Meanwhile, in doubles, Pritchard and Jorge Wilton are on a seven-match winning streak and are 7-0 this spring. The duo of David Durham and Drew Wendel are 6-5 on the No. 1 court, but have won their last five matches.
USC Upstate is currently 2-13, but is 1-1 in the Atlantic Sun after splitting its matches last weekend. The Spartans began conference began conference play with a 4-1 win over Stetson last Thursday, but dropped a 5-2 match to Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday. USC Upstate's only other win of the season was a 4-0 shutout of Chattanooga on Feb. 28. USC Upstate hosts Elon on Wednesday afternoon before traveling to UNF.
Admission is free for all UNF home tennis matches.
