Men’s tennis looks for 10th win of season

MEN’S TENNIS GAME TIMECornell (5-5) at USF (9-4)When: Today, 2Where: USF Varsity CourtsTV/Radio: None

The USF men’s tennis team (9-4) returns to its home court today to face off against the Big Red of Cornell (5-5).

USF, led by freshman Lucas Jovita (No. 1), senior Mahmoud Hamed (No. 2) and freshman Jamal Adderley (No. 3), will look to improve its home record to 10-0.

After six straight victories, all of which were at home, the Bulls fell to the No. 26 ranked Louisiana State Tigers on the road last Wednesday.

Despite the recent loss, the Bulls continued their ascent by reaching their highest ranking of the year at No. 31, which is tops in the Big East Conference.

With USF’s high ranking, coach Dan Barr expects teams to come ready to play. Barr said teams “will come with their A-game because of our ranking – we have a target on our back.”

Barr is telling his team to stay focused on its opponents, not its ranking.

“It’s nice to be ranked, but its how we finish that’s the important thing,” he said. “Nobody’s going to remember what we did in the middle of the season.”

Barr wants his team to “have a heart of a champion, play like a champion and refuse to lose.”

“The team has been working extremely hard trying to get our game to that top level,” Barr said.