Net News - January 19
1/19/2018 9:02:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Hello from Bama Tennis,
Opening weekend is in the books that resulted in a series of solid performances. Â A few players competed in their inaugural dual matches, while others returned to further their careers with a new season of points, games, sets and matches. Â We had an exciting start on Saturday playing Jackson State alongside our women's team, who also have a fair amount of new faces representing the crimson and white this year. Â Fans got to witness two dual matches at the same time, as well as take in the sights of the Big Al drawings presented by the Rock Quarry Elementary 3rd grade. Â This project began last December when Jenny and I visited Mrs. Mason's art class with Big Al. Â We then followed up with another visit to kick off 2018 and collected the finalized pieces. Â We displayed the colorful renderings on the upper seating level indoors and had members of each team pick out their favorites. Â Two winners were selected from each class and rewarded with an Alabama Tennis prize pak that included a team t-shirt and other fun goodies. Â There were so many great pictures drawn with such creativity flare. Â Mrs. Mason (art teacher) and Coach McShan (popular RQE bus driver) fired away the honorary first serves and the 2018 campaign officially began.
We captured two wins that day against the JSU Tigers (as did our women). Freshmen Sam Fischer and Grant Stuckey earned their first Alabama dual match victories and locker stickers, while Mazen Osama, our elder statesman, did the same to start his junior season. Â Our French fighter Thibault Cancel, now known as "Diesel" by PA Alan Cunningham, earned a pair of impressive victories, as did fellow sophomore Edson Ortiz, who didn't drop a game in a pair of singles matches. Â Both the men's and women's teams also took in a little signature practice as fans of all ages were treated to a post-match autograph session. Â Match Bama, Match Bama.
The Blazers of UAB rolled down the interstate to kick off MLK Jr. Day. Â They were ready to put up a tough fight following a gritty effort a day before in Starkville against Mississippi State. Â Doubles began and Bama jumped out to early leads. Â The newly formed pair of Mazen and Edson seized control of things on court 1 with a swift victory. Â Sophomore Zhe "Z" Zhou and January freshman Riccardo Roberto, debuted on court 3 and played like they had known each other for more than just a week which resulted in a point on the board for the home team.
Singles shortly followed and the Blazers tightened the laces on their gloves ready to have this fight go the distance. Â They sunk their teeth into a few courts but the Tide rose to the occasion and didn't let UAB pin them against the ropes. Â Zhe was the first to finish while sophomore Alexey Nesterov shook hands with his opponent shortly thereafter. Â Riccardo clinched the match for Bama on court 6, his second career win at The Capstone. Â Match Bama.
The day was not done, however, as The Citadel led by legendary coach Chuck Kriese were next on the docket. Â We knew the Bulldogs would bring their best junkyard dog mentality to the courts in the nightcap. Â Coach Kriese has always taught his players to compete so well and to gain confidence and courage with a fearless mentality in competition. Â We faced this challenge head on got off to a quick start in doubles and swept all three matches with high first serve percentages, solid returns and aggressive movement. Â
Singles play followed resulting in several impressive performances.  Alexey and Grant finished in fine fashion while Edson followed with another impressive result losing just two games in his match (if you counted correctly that was two games lost in three singles wins…Vamos).  Riccardo got a full taste of a doubleheader winning his fourth match of the day and earning a nice hot shower.  The last match on was court 1 where Zhe represented the Tide in the top singles position for the first time in his career.  His match went back and forth, until ultimately he buckled down and concluded the evening with a tremendous display of patience, persistence and positivity.  Match Bama.
So a busy weekend for us all with a total team effort on and off the court.  Our guys did an excellent job performing in their matches, while their teammates cheered passionately from the stands showing the spirit and support we will need moving forward.  And speaking of a total team effort, I must mention a few people that you won't see on our player roster but help us out so much. Sherry Selby is our team's administrative assistant, and quite frankly, is the calming voice I seek out daily with a laugh or two included.  Our facilities crew – Ms. Tina, Ashley, Tiffany, Yaqueline and Leticia – keep our facility the best looking in the country.  They take such pride in making the courts our home sweet home as well as giving it a family touch which is invaluable to our players and coaches.  Katie Wheeler, our team's athletic trainer and "team mom", looks after our guys like a mother would her children.  She always makes sure each player has the necessary treatment, support and care, while also supervising  and teaching four student-trainers that also help out a ton.  Zach Rhodes oversees our team's media relations and some of his responsibilities include reporting scores, writing stories, creating noteworthy news and making sure our fans get to know what our program is all about.  Chase Harwood is our new marketing director that has been on the ball from day 1, working diligently to promote our matches, create excitement for the fans and make sure they keep coming back.  Alan Cunningham, Mr. Tuscaloosa Tennis, returns for another season as our public address announcer, keeping our fans abreast of who's who on court and also doing his best to share information you might not know about our players.  Abi Gossett, is an Alabama freshman in her first year as our team manager, that has showed her love for helping out the coaches and players with so many different things since her first day on the job.  On match day you might see her in the Crimson Racket Club hospitality room, managing the team's food needs or floating throughout the stands helping out with odds and ends.  Away from the courts is Jenny Sanders, our team's academic advisor.  What a super job she has done for many student-athletes but more specifically our team, monitoring their academic progress as well as assisting with class schedules, tutoring and a whole lot more.  All of which prepares the guys for performing in the classroom and this they sure did last semester producing a 3.75 team gpa.  This mark was the highest among all Alabama men's teams and eclipsed the previous team high gpa of 3.55 (set in Spring 2017).  These stats have been recorded since 1991 so that amounts to roughly 51 semesters if my math is correct.  Well done guys!
And now fast forward to this weekend where all of these helping hands will once again put forth their energy and love into another day of matches at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility. Â Samford kicks off the front end of a doubleheader at 1pm while UT-Chattanooga will be on the other side of the net for a 6pm nightcap. Â So come join us indoors where it's warm, exciting and loud. Â Join the CRC and receive a comfy Alabama jersey blanket while accessing the hospitality room too. Â Two matches to serve as book ends to the football team's national championship celebration in the mid-afternoon. Â Sounds like a great way to spend your Saturday.
We'll see you out there.
Roll Tide,
George
Players Mentioned
