NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- They are separate teams, but are enjoying success together and for the second consecutive year, the Old Dominion men's and women's tennis teams will begin their NCAA Tournament slate in the same location.
Both squads open up the Big Dance this weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina, and both will face South Carolina as their first opponent on hopeful tournament runs.
"It's a little bit of deja vu to go back in the same exciting manner to the same spot," Monarch women's head coach Dominic Manilla said Monday. "We lived this last year. It was just so special."
"We sometimes joke a little that we're a tennis school and I think a day like today shows that again," added men's head coach Dominik Mueller.
Last season, both Monarch squads opened up their NCAA Tournaments in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It will be a treat for both programs, which support each other throughout the course of the season and share many of the same fans.
The Monarch men claimed their second straight Sun Belt championship, topping Georgia Southern, 4-1, in the title match. ODU outscored opponents, 12-1, throughout the course of the three tournament competitions. The women, meanwhile, claimed a fourth consecutive conference crown, their second Sun Belt title in a row to follow back-to-back Conference USA triumphs.
Success obviously stretches across both programs. Each coach has established his own culture and recipe for winning, but the collective group of tennis coaches and players creates a collective attitude for success in the facility.
"We're definitely separate entities, definitely separate teams, but it is a very combined tennis culture here," Manilla noted. "The expectation is to win, to do well, to play in the NCAA Tournament and then to win in the NCAA Tournament, so it's a very fantastic synergy we have going here between the two programs."
"We have a great relationship with Dom and Yana (Sokolenko)," said Mueller. "I think our players cheer for each other, so I think walking into the building every day, we just have a great relationship where we make each other better."
Mueller's men are 20-7 on the campaign and are looking to hang around the NCAA Tournament a little bit longer than they did a year ago. Utah dispatched the Monarchs, 4-1, in the opening round back in 2023. ODU gets a Gamecocks squad that is 17-14 on the year.
The silver and blue women, meanwhile,are 17-5 and have rattled off 13 wins in a row. They beat South Carolina in the first round last season and will meet a Gamecock team that is 17-7 this time around.
The Old Dominion and South Carolina men clash Friday at 1:00 PM, with the two women's programs meeting Saturday at 11:00 AM.
