Happy Fourth of July Eve! Patriotism at its finest will be on display this week and one of ODU’s own will be showing off her own patriotism on the international stage.

Football camp is less than a month away, fall schedules are on the docket, and much more!

What else is stirring in today’s edition of the Brew?

🏀 Country Pride
🎾. Head of State
🏈 Elite Company
👑 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Country Roads, Take Me Home. While we prepare to celebrate USA patriotism this week, one of ODU’s own is celebrating patriotism of her own as she plays for her home country this week.

Brenda Fontana, from the Monarchs women’s hoops program, is playing in this week’s FIBA Women’s AmeriCup Tournament for her home country of Argentina, being hosted in Leon, Mexico. 

"It means a lot to me to represent my country on every occasion," said Fontana. "But because this is my first time on the seniors' team, it is a special tournament for me. It's an honor to play with and against so many great players. I am excited about the experience, and I will give my best to represent Argentina and ODU in the best way possible.”

Hailing from Moreno, Argentina, the rising junior scored 85 points (2.7 ppg) with 58 rebounds (1.8 rpg), nine assists, six steals and two blocks in 32 games for the Monarchs this past season.

Fontana also played on Argentina's U17, U18 and U19 teams.

Argentina opened the tournament yesterday with a ______ against the United States. The continue today with a 4:40 p.m. EST contest against Brazil, followed by meetings with Cuba (July 4 - 2:10 p.m.) and Venezuela (July 5 - 4:40 p.m.).

The entire tournament will be streamed on Courtside 1891.

🔼 Head Of State. Accolades keep piling in for the reigning Sun Belt Champs.

Late last week, women’s tennis head coach Dominic Manilla and senior Tatsiana Sasnouskaya were named the state’s top coach and player of the year, respectively.

Sasnouskaya was an All-State First Team selection in singles, while the doubles tandem of Sasnouskaya and Sofia Johnson were also named to the All-State First Team on the doubles side. Johnson was named to the second team in singles.

Manilla took home his third such honor in the past four years after leading the Monarchs to a 19-5 mark and the Sun Belt title this past spring. ODU finished the spring ranked No. 29 in the country under Manilla’s tutelage.

🔼 High On Henderson. Not sure if ya’ll have heard of this guy Jason Henderson. Apparently, he’s pretty good at that tackling thing.

Coming off last year’s record-setting and All-American season, rising junior Jason Henderson is gaining loads of offseason attention and praise, including in the most recent Frary & Smith Podcast, which covers Sun Belt football.

In the episode, they discuss the best linebackers in the Sun Belt and even discuss if Henderson could etch himself on the Mount Rushmore of Sun Belt history.

🔼 Mark Those Calendars. Start filling those days in for the 2023-2024 athletic calendar now!

Two more fall sports programs launched their fall schedules this past week with men’s soccer and volleyball both nailing down their slate.

You don’t want to miss the action! Save those dates now!

🏈 COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 61 DAYS

61 yards to pay dirt! This connection between Javon Harvey and Hayden Wolff got the scoring start in the October showdown between Georgia State and ODU.

It was the longest reception of the 2022 season for Harvey, who is back in 2023 as the team’s top returning receiving threat from a year ago after posting 30 catches for 558 yards and four TDs last fall.

28 of those catches came in the final eight games of 2023 with the Norfolk, Va. resident averaging over three catches and 68 yards per game down the stretch for the Monarchs.

🤔 MONARCH TRIVIA

Jason Henderson set all sorts of records last fall for the Monarchs.

His 186 total tackles were 39 more than any other FBS player last year. He broke the ODU and Sun Belt single-season records for tackles. He shattered the Sun Belt record by 21 tackles!

Just 24 games into his collegiate career, he is already on the cusp of 300 career tackles.

His 186 tackles last year rank third all-time in college football history for the most in a single season.

In 2002, Texas Tech’s Lawrence Fluegence set the current record of 193.

Can you name the LB that would go on for an All-Pro NFL career that ranks second with 191 single-season tackles?

Hint: He played in the ACC

Think you’ve got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email and see if you had the right answer!

📬 STICK WITH US

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🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Boston College’s Luke Kuechly.

Kuechly’s 191 tackles in 2011 rank second all-time next to Fluegence’s 193 in 2002.

Kuechly went to a five-time All-Pro career with the Carolina Panthers, in which he won the 2012 Defensive Rookie of the Year and the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Pretty nice company for Jason to keep we’d say!

Let’s have a great start to the week!