Happy Friday! We’ve got a packed Brew for you today with academic achievements, behind-the-scenes looks from media day, and much more. Let’s get to it.

What else is stirring in today’s edition?

📸 Behind the Curtains
⚾️ Young Love
🏈 Countdown to Kickoff
👑 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 And Another One... SportsCenter anchors of the past would call ODU’s own Brandon Perez, “En Fuego”, right now.

This past spring, Perez earned First Team All-Conference and All-State accolades on the doubles court, as well as leading the Monarchs to the conference title and to a top-100 doubles ranking in the country, including a NCAA victory over Utah.

His streak continued into the summer, winning gold on the doubles court at the South American games, and then recently winning gold at the Central American and Caribbean games in doubles as well.

We think Brandon might need to build a bigger trophy case soon.

🔼 Acing the Academics. The first word in “student-athlete” is student.

Six ODU Monarchs were recognized for acing that part of the experience being named to the Academic All-State squad this week.

ODU honorees included: Anessa Arndt (Women's Soccer), Leah Onosato (Women's Golf), Jan Marpe (Men's Soccer), Owen Rolph (Men's Swimming), Callie Culhane (Women's Lacrosse) and John Morton (Football).

To be eligible, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 GPA and be a sophomore or higher in standing. Each school in the state of Virginia can nominate up to six student-athletes.

🔼 Lights, Camera, Action. With kickoff less than 60 days away, it’s team media day time, which means plenty of time spent behind the camera.

Be sure to get ready for the fall with some fun with the fellas.

🔼 Moving On Up. There’s no bigger privilege and honor in athletics than representing your home country.

Brenda Fontana, of the ODU women’s hoops program, has had that privilege this week, playing for her home country of Argentina in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup Tournament, being hosted in Leon, Mexico. 

Fontana and her teammates dropped their first three contests by a combined 13 points, but came up clutch with a thrilling 58-55 win over Venezuela in the final group stage game to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

In the four group stage games, Fontana has played 48 minutes for her senior tournament debut, scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while shooting 53-percent from the field.

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.

Argentina takes on Canada in the quarterfinals tonight at 7:40 p.m. EST, with the victor moving on to face either the United States or Colombia.

The entire tournament will be streamed on Courtside 1891.

⏰ SET THOSE ALARMS!

Beware The Monarchs: Tickets Are Coming. Set the alarms, save those dates, block off your calendars.

Mini ticket plans and single game tickets are coming soon. Stay tuned to upcoming Monarch Brews and ODUSports.com for more details!

🦁 SCOUTING THE HERD

Opponent #5: Marshall
Date: Saturday, September 30th
Location: Joan C. Edwards Stadium — Huntington, W. Va.
Time: TBA
Broadcast Coverage: ODU Sports Radio Network

Last Meeting: Marshall 12, Old Dominion 0 - Nov. 5, 2022 in Norfolk, Va.
All-Time Series: Marshall leads 7-1

Famous Alumni Battle: 

ODU: Nancy Lieberman (Basketball Hall of Famer), Justin Verlander (MLB All-Star), Taylor Heinicke (NFL QB), Jay Harris (ESPN Anchor), Ben Bailey (host of Cash Cab), William Fallon (Four Star Navy Admiral)
Marshall: Billy Crystal (Actor/Comedian), Hal Greer (Basketball Hall of Famer), Randy Moss (NFL Hall of Famer), Chad Pennington (former NFL QB - played 10 seasons), Mike D’Antoni (former NBA head coach), Michael W. Smith (three-time Grammy Award winner)

The Thundering Herd continue to be a thorn in ODU’s side both in the Conference USA and now the Sun Belt. Marshall has made a bowl game in nine of the past 10 seasons, spanning two different coaches over that stretch.

Entering its third season under the leadership of Charles Huff, Marshall has piled up a 16-10 with him at the helm, earning spots at the New Orleans Bowl and Myrtle Beach Bowl, respectively.

The Thundering Herd defense was a force to be reckon with last fall, ranking in the top-10 in the country, allowing just 16.0 points per game. Two of their stalwarts, DL Owen Porter and CB Micah Abraham, are back to lead a stout defensive unit in 2023.

Marshall’s offense loses their leading rusher in Khalan Laborn, but dual threat QB Cam Francher is back after rushing for almost 600 yards and throwing for over 1500 yds last fall in his first season under center.

🏀 WE WORKIN'

🤔 MONARCH TRIVIA

The September 30th meeting in Huntington between Marshall and ODU will be the ninth all-time between the two programs.

Marshall is the most faced opponent in program history for the Monarchs, dating back to 2014 as Conference USA opponents.

Next to Thundering Herd, ODU has faced three other schools seven times in program history.

How many of those three schools can you name?

Think you’ve got it?

Scroll down to the bottom of this email and see if you had the right answer!

🏈 COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 57 DAYS

57 tackles.
2 Interceptions.
6 pass breakups.
3 fumble recoveries.
2 forced fumbles.
NFL Draft Pick.

In two years as a Monarch, Tre Hawkins III left quite a legacy, piling up over 130 tackles during that span, including 57 last fall for ODU.

He had a huge performance at ODU’s pro day this past spring which led to his sixth round selection by the NY Giants in the 2023 NFL Draft.

A two-year starter at cornerback, his 57 tackles this past year ranked fourth on the team. He tied for the team lead in interceptions with two and finished second with six pass breakups. He tied for the Sun Belt Conference lead with three fumble recoveries.

In 2021, he set an ODU record with 76 tackles by a cornerback and added seven pass breakups.

📬 STICK WITH US

Did someone send you the Monarch Brew? Subscribe here and get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning just in time for your first cup of coffee!

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Florida Atlantic, Florida International, and Western Kentucky

As former conference opponents, FAU, FIU and WKU all were frequent showdowns for the Monarchs.

ODU is 4-3 against FIU, 3-4 against FAU and 1-6 against WKU.

Have a great weekend, Monarchs!