MARIETTA, Ga. - The tennis teams remain at home for the second consecutive weekend after a lengthy road stretch to start the season, when they face off this weekend with Young Harris College, Jacksonville State, and Atlantic Sun rival Mercer.  

The Young Harris and Jacksonville State matches will take place Friday at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., respectively.  The Owls and Bears are scheduled for a noon start on Saturday at Fair Oaks Tennis Center in Marietta, the Owls' home facility.

Young Harris, coached by former Owl assistant coach Jacob Turner, are in their second year in NCAA Division II, and have already made great strides under Turner's leadership.  Last season, both programs went 0-14 in Turner's first season.  This year, both programs are off to strong starts. The women stand at 11-3 and have won 8 straight, while the men are a respectable 6-7.

"It is always great to see one of our former coaches making a positive impact somewhere else," commented men's head coach #T.J. Greggs#.  "Coach Turner has done a great job with his teams, and they will be a formidable opponent for us."

Jacksonville State and KSU will square off a year after both teams had exciting matches a year ago when they faced off in Jacksonville, Ala.  On the women's side, the Owls took down the Gamecocks, 5-2.  The men's match was decided late into the night, as JSU managed to pick up the win at No. 6 singles after a lengthy three-set match, as they fought to a 4-3 win over the Owls.  This season, the Gamecock men are 8-9, while the women stand at 5-13.

Saturday's match will be the annual matchup between the Owls and their in-state conference rivals, Mercer.  For the women, the Owls (8-6, 2-2 A-Sun) will be looking to extend their conference winning streak to 3 games, while the Bears (2-8, 0-4 A-Sun) will be looking for their first win in conference play.  On the men's side, the Owls (8-8, 1-3 A-Sun) are coming off of a 4-3 upset of Lipscomb while the Bears were defeated by the same Lipscomb team by an indentical score.

All matches will take place at Fair Oaks Tennis Center in Marietta.  For directions, please click the link below.

Fair Oaks Tennis Center