THIBODAUX, La. -- The Nicholls State University tennis program will begin their 2024 season against Loyola University New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 31. Both matches in New Orleans will start play at 2:00 p.m. 
 
Head Coach Greg Harkins enters his eighth season at the helm and is optimistic about the coming season for both teams. 
 
The women's team is composed of five returners and four newcomers. The squad is led by senior returners Carla Bouygues and Dareen Hassan. Bouygues, who is a fifth-year senior, has the most wins in the last three years of the program. 
 
Another standout is fifth-year Lea Grinberg who transferred to Nicholls this year from Arkansas Tech where she was a Division II conference champion. 
 
Harkins is also excited about his freshmen newcomers. Qianyu Liu was a top 300 International Tennis Federation (ITF) player and Aada Inna was an 18U European Champion last summer. 
 
The men's team is composed of three newcomers and five returners including three all-conference players. The team is led by two senior captains Omar Morsy and Antonio Sasso. 
 
Morsy, who is a fifth-year senior, will be playing line one which he has done for the last four years. 
 
Freshman Kotaro Matsumura had a great fall season which Harkins described as being 'One of the better falls that I've seen by a freshman in a long time.' 
 
Harkins anticipates the coming season but acknowledges that it will be tough. He expects tough matches in conference but looks forward to both teams hopefully competing in the conference championships.
 
UP NEXT
Both teams will return home and begin the new month with their home openers at Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex. First, the men will host Jacksonville State on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. and then the women will host Idaho on Friday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.