Men's Tennis Begins 2024 Slate With Saturday Home Doubleheader

NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men's tennis team will open their 2024 season on Saturday with a doubleheader at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
 
They'll start the day with a 10:00 a.m. match against Temple and then play later that afternoon against Howard at 4:00 p.m.
 
"We are excited to get the new season started. This is a new and young team and that's why we scheduled a double header to get things kicked off," said ODU Head Coach Dominik Mueller. "Temple is always six players deep and well coached. They will give us a tough battle right out of the gate. With Howard, we are looking at a team that's probably competing for a top spot in the MEAC, so another great early season test."
 
The Monarchs finished the 2023 season 18-10 and took their first Sun Belt Conference crown. ODU returns four players from last year including ITA Atlantic Region Freshman of the Year Cosme Rolland De Ravel and Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year Jakob Cadonau. This fall was highlighted by a run to the ITA Fall National Finals by Connor van Schalkwyk and Codie van Schalkwyk. That duo ended the fall ranked sixth nationally, while Rolland De Ravel and Cadonau ended 33rd after winning the ITA Atlantic Regional.
 
Temple finished last year 19-5 and lost in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament. Maj Najvirt Kolaric leads them in singles wins through the fall with four, while Alberto Blumenschein and Pranav Nemani are 3-0 in doubles. This will be the first meeting since 2022 when ODU took a 4-1 win at home on Mar. 26.
 
Howard was 4-13 last year and dropped their MEAC Tournament opener to Norfolk State 4-3. The Monarchs last met the Bison on Jan. 15, 2017, with ODU winning 7-0.
 
You can view live stats for the Temple match here , while you can view Howard match here. The Temple match will be video streamed here and the Howard match here.
 
ODU will hit the road next weekend to visit Wisconsin on January 26 and Drake on January 28.