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NORFOLK — When asked if he felt like his team was an underdog going into the NCAA Tournament this weekend, Old Dominion women’s tennis coach Dominic Manilla kept his answer simple.
“No,” he said. “No, we don’t.”
The Monarchs have good reason to feel like contenders when they head to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for a first-round matchup with No. 34 South Carolina.
ODU won 13 straight matches to round out the regular season and cruised to the Sun Belt title Sunday.
“It’s been a few years since we looked at any match and thought we’re the underdog,” Manilla said. “There’s always a path for us to win, no matter how tough the team has been. We’ve gone up against the one seed in the tournament, and competed against some very hard teams. We almost took down Duke last year. I think that we don’t really look at a brand that we’re playing. We match up against the players just like we play against any other team. We don’t care where you’re from.”
Old Dominion fired on all cylinders in the Sun Belt Tournament. The Monarchs beat all three of their opponents 4-0, including James Madison in the championship match that helped them clinch another NCAA bid.
“We’re pretty proud of this,” Manilla said. “This is four years in a row we have made the NCAA Tournament — it would have been five had COVID not happened — so it’s a pattern of making the NCAA Tournament. We’ve said it a few times: I think Old Dominion is a tennis school. I think just the support and the success we’ve had here shows it.”
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A win against the Gamecocks in the first round of regional play would set up a likely matchup with No. 1 North Carolina — barring a potential upset from Charleston Southern.
The key will be keeping the “pedal to the metal” for the Monarchs, Manilla said, as they look to capitalize on the positive momentum they have.
“We’re familiar with North Carolina, so that gives us a lot of confidence,” Manilla said. “We’ve stayed at that hotel, we’ve eaten at those restaurants, so we know what we’re doing. We’re not going to the NCAA Tournament for an experience; we’re going there to win matches.”
Old Dominion will continue to lean on senior Tatsiana Sasnouskaya as it heads into the NCAA Tournament. The Belarus native was the 2023 Sun Belt Player of the Year and posted a 20-5 record in singles play — good enough to be ranked No. 35 in the country.
The team finished the season ranked No. 33 in the country.
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“I think some people are, some teams, are just winning groups,” Manilla said. “I think that a lot of the individuals on this team are winning type of people and they have very high standards about how they go about doing things. When we went to the Sun Belt, the standard was to win the Sun Belt, and everybody has been on board. It’s taken a village to do this and so we’re very fortunate to have those types of people.”
Both the ODU men’s and women’s teams will be traveling to Chapel Hill for regional play. The women will play Friday, and coach Dominik Mueller and the men’s team will play Utah at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“Our programs here are very close,” Manilla said. “We’re all friends, we all hang out together. My family’s good friends with (Mueller’s) family. So we’re very excited to go down at the same time. The men always bring an awesome level of energy to events, and we’re kind of a quiet, forward focus group. I’m really excited for what those guys are bringing, they’re great.”
Meanwhile, Sasnouskaya has earned a spot in the NCAA women’s singles draw, and she and teammate Sofia Johnson have made the doubles field. Those tournaments will be held May 22-27 at the USTA National Campus near Orlando, Florida.
Michael Sauls | michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com
NCAA tourney openers
* ODU women vs. South Carolina, Friday, time TBA
* ODU men vs. Utah, date and time TBA