NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men’s tennis team will serve up the 2019 spring season at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center this weekend. First on Friday, Jan. 18 at 1:00 p.m., the Monarchs will host Temple. Then on Sunday, Jan. 20 at 11:00 a.m., ODU will welcome South Carolina State. Admission for all is free.
LIVE STATS LINK for Friday and Sunday.
“We are very excited to start the season,” explained ODU assistant coach Sergey Avdeyev. “This is what it’s all about. All the training we did in the fall and the tournaments that we played, as well as the experience that we gained. All of that was to prepare our guys for the spring and that time is finally here. Our team is pumped.”
Last season, ODU head coach Dominik Mueller was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year, as well as the Virginia State Coach of the Year. His program climbed as high as No. 25 in the national rankings last season after taking down No. 14 Dartmouth (4-1) and No. 24 Utah (4-0). The Monarchs claimed the first conference title for the program since 1994. Old Dominion entered the NCAA Tournament with a 19-6 overall record and went a perfect 6-0 against C-USA opponents. In the C-USA Tournament, ODU outscored its opponents 12-0. The Tennis Monarchs claimed victory in 13 of their last 15 matches a year ago, while outscoring their opponents 57-21 during that stretch. ODU also rode an 11-match win-streak into the NCAA Tourney, in which the Monarchs outscored their opponents 46-12.
The Monarchs return the C-USA Player of the Year from a season ago in Aziz Kijametovic. Francois Musitelli also returns to this year’s team after earning Second Team All-Conference USA honors in 2017-18.
In all, Mueller returns six student-athletes from last season's roster, while adding five new freshmen to this year's team.
Old Dominion Assistant Coach on Sergey Avdeyev on Temple:
“Temple is a solid team. We know they are strong in doubles. Our number one team played them in the fall and fell short. They have their starters back and they are all solid one through six. I think it’s going to be some great matches, with high quality tennis. Our guys must come out ready to compete.”
Old Dominion Assistant Coach on Sergey Avdeyev on South Carolina State:
“South Carolina State is by far the best team in their Conference. We have to take them very seriously. Obviously they are good. They have won the MEAC Conference nine times in the last eleven years. We will make sure our guys aware of that so we don’t overlook them. South Carolina State has many new players, so we don’t really know where they stand and what to expect.”