NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Old Dominion tennis winning the Sun Belt and heading to the NCAA Tournament is becoming a habit, whether we're talking about the men's or women's program.
2026 is no different, as both Monarch squads are once again going dancing. The ODU women will make their seventh straight appearance in the field of 64, while the men will head to the tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Both teams are coming off conference titles.
"They're all special, every single time," said women's head coach Dominic Manilla. "It's over multi generations. We have players on this team where it's their first time so we want to make sure it feels special every time. We never take it for granted. It feels great."
"It's our goal going into each and every season," added men's head coach Dominik Mueller. "It's about time that we win a round in this tournament and I think this group has the best foundation to make this happen."
Mueller's men will head to Winston-Salem to begin their hopeful NCAA Tournament run. The Monarchs will open up against Gardner-Webb on Friday at 2 p.m. and, with a victory, would face either Wake Forest or Navy in round two. The Demon Deacons are the top overall seed in the field.
The ODU women, meanwhile, will travel to Durham to get things going and begin their quest against Tennessee Friday at 1 p.m. Duke and VCU square off in the other meeting with the winners facing off in the second round.
"It's an exciting draw," Mueller said. "It's familiar territory. This is now the second time in a row and three out of the last five years we're going to Wake Forest. It's not too far of a drive so it's an exciting turnaround."
"It's a tough pod for us for sure," Manilla noted. "Tennessee's had a great season, they have a great staff, great players, but they're traveling a little bit further than us. We're familiar with Duke. We've played there a few times, we played there earlier this fall so we're confident going down there."
The teams have put together success cheering each other on, seeing each other in the same facilities and fueling off success. Both head coaches say that they enjoy working together, more as one program than separate teams, and have developed a strong bond in the process.
"It's just such a pleasure coaching with Dom and his team," Manilla said. "I played in the men's team so I'm always pulling for their success."
"Having this kind of success in the same building, it creates excellence on both sides," added Mueller. "It's no rivalry at all. It's a synergy that's in that building that's really helping each other."
The silver and blue women are one of 21 teams that have made the NCAA Tournament seven years in a row. They enter the Big Dance with a 13-5 record. The men are one of 29 squads to make it four straight seasons and are 20-6 going into the tournament.
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