Men’s tennis looking to defeat in-state foe

The USF men’s tennis team (2-2) will face the Stetson Hatters (2-1) at home today at 2 p.m. before traveling to South Beach to face the No. 24 Miami Hurricanes (4-2) on Sunday. The team will be searching for some consistency and hoping to rise significantly in the rankings.

“Both teams are interstate rivals,” USF coach Don Barr said. “Stetson has a lot of seniors who know how to play the game, and tall players that range from 6 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 7 inches that we will have to be ready for. Facing Miami is a golden opportunity for us to go up in the rankings, but we have to focus on Stetson first, though, because it could be a trap game if we are not focused.”

The Hatters had their 11-game regular season winning streak broken by the FAU Owls Saturday. Stetson is bringing Sun Belt player of the week and Croatia native Filip Kricka, who was responsible for winning both of Stetson’s points against FAU, to face either USF’s Lucas Jovita or Mahmoud Hamed.

Facing the Hurricanes will be a tough test for the Bulls, but they have reason to be optimistic. Miami lost to the Rice Owls last weekend, an opponent that the Bulls beat with ease, 5-2. On the other hand, the Hurricanes beat the Florida Gators 4-3 this year, and the Bulls lost to UF 4-3 last week.

The Hurricanes have the edge since they play at home, but both teams are evenly matched and the series promises to be close.