UA Men's Tennis Opens SEC Play on the Road
2/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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TUSCALOOSA – The Alabama men’s tennis team (10-0, 0-0 SEC) opens Southeastern Conference play this weekend on the road at No. 23 LSU (6-1, 0-0 SEC) Friday and at Arkansas (6-3, 1-0 SEC) Sunday.
LSU returns five of the six singles starters from 2002. Last season, Alabama and LSU split, with the Tide scoring a 4-1 victory in Tuscaloosa while LSU eliminated Alabama in the first round of the SEC tournament, 4-2. LSU currently holds a perfect 6-0 home record this season and their only loss came to 12th-ranked Texas A&M.
“LSU presents a huge test for us and it will be a battle,” Alabama head coach Billy Pate said. “It is never easy to win on the road in the SEC. Everyone is healthy. We have been practicing well and expect to play our best this weekend.”
Arkansas hosts Auburn on Friday before welcoming Alabama on Sunday. The Hogs are ranked 27th in the latest Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings.
Alabama’s 10 straight wins is tied for second among most consecutive team wins in a single season (1973, ’83 and ’89). Alabama’s most consecutive team wins was 12 in 1976.
“Entering SEC play this weekend, we are treating this as a new season,” Pate said. It’s important for our guys to realize that we have accomplished a great deal thus far, but it won’t mean as much unless we are successful within our league.”
Alabama climbed one spot from 12th in this week’s rankings, just four spots short of the highest team ranking in school history (7th in 1994 preseason).
“A high ranking only serves to further motivate the teams who play you. We are simply trying to take care of business,” Pate said. If we are successful, we will deserve a high ranking. It is critical that we back up what we have accomplished so far.”
