Good morning! The Met Gala was held on Monday night, but for some reason they forgot to invite the ODU Kings & Queens of tennis after they proved to be the upper-class of the Sun Belt Conference and crowned champions.

That’s okay—the Monarchs have more important things to attend to anyway.

Here’s what we’re serving up in today’s Brew:

🎾 Two teams, two good
⚾ Keys to beating Liberty
👑 And a whole lot more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 A Royal Sendoff. The tennis teams are packing their bags and will accompany each other on the road to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. After the men’s team won the Sun Belt Championship last week, they waited to see if their name would be called for the NCAA tournament, which begins this weekend. On Monday night, the Monarchs learned they will face 19th-ranked Utah on Saturday at 10:00am ET. The lifetime series between teams is split, each school winning one match a piece.

And the coffee didn’t even get the chance to cool before the women’s team found out they were also going to the NCAA tournament after being crowned Sun Belt Champions this past weekend. The Queens will square off against 34th-ranked South Carolina on Friday at 2:00pm ET. Like the men, this will be the second all-time meeting against their opponent.

Here’s a video of the women’s team finding out they’re in the tournament and a recap of their victory over the weekend. 

🔼 Know Thy Opponent. It was a tough loss for the Monarchs this past weekend after they clawed their way back from a 10-2 deficit, got within one run, and lost in extra innings. But with 12 games left in the season before the Sun Belt Championship, ODU is within striking distance of taking home the crown. Today, they face a Liberty team that has gone 19-24 on the season and we’ve got a lot of reason for optimism. Here’s why:

• 🎯 Blake Morgan will get the start this evening and he’s not short on experience, starting all 11 games he's appeared in this season and recording 41 strikeouts against 15 walks through 51.1 innings pitched.

• 💥 Tyler Wheeler (.338) and Hunter Fitz-Gerald (.337) but Alex Bouche, Kenny Levari, Luke Waters, and Jake Ticer shore up an offense that is boasting six players batting over .300.

• 💪 The Monarchs are batting .298 as a team and own a .545 slugging percentage with a .404 on-base percentage. As of May 1, the team is seventh nationally in home runs (87) and home runs per game (2.02), 14th in slugging percentage, 16th in runs scored (371), and 20th in runs per game (8.6) and triples (15).

🔼 Harbor-ing Our Excitement. Speaking of our Boys in Blue, it’s less than a week before the annual Commonwealth Classic at Harbor Park. The Monarchs will host East Carolina next Tuesday, May 9th, at 7:00pm ET. The classic has been around since 2014 and will finally be back after being canceled the previous two years due to weather and COVID. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.

🤔 MONARCH TRIVIA

On The Road Again. Old Dominion men’s tennis will make their third trip to the NCAA tournament in school history, and today’s trivia question deals with their postseason success.

When was the last time the Monarchs made it to the tournament?

Think you got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

👑 ONE BIG THING

Belated Birthday. A belated birthday shoutout to Josh Marlow, the associate athletic director of equipment operations at ODU! Josh does a lot of behind-the-scenes work that many fans won’t notice, but we certainly do and want to thank Josh for all he does with ODU athletics!

📬 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!

📅 THE DAY AHEAD

Wednesday 5/3:

⚾ Baseball at Liberty @ 6:00pm ET on ESPN+ | Live Video | Live Stats

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 2018 

The Monarchs most recently danced in the NCAA tournament in 2018 when they took on South Carolina in the first round. 

Have a great Wednesday, y’all!