Men's Tennis Travels to Auburn in Regular Season Finale
4/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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** The 14th-ranked Crimson Tide looks to go 4-0 against in-state opponents this season as the travel to Auburn for their final regular season match. The Crimson Tide have defeated three in-state foes so far this season: Troy State, 7-0, Jacksonville State, 6-1 and UAB, 6-1. Auburn will be by far the toughest challenge of those, however. The Tigers are ranked 22nd in the latest Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings and are the ranked in-state opponent of the Tide.
** The winner of Saturday’s match will hold not only state bragging rights, but also a higher seed in the Southeastern Conference tournament to be held in Oxford, Miss. next week. Both the Tide and the Tigers are 4-6 in league play. An Alabama win would lock up a second place finish to Ole Miss in the SEC Western division and could make the Tide as high as a 5th seed in the tourney.
** Winning a majority of your matches in Southeastern Conference play is no small feat, and this season Alabama has four individuals with a combined singles and doubles record of above .500. Junior Christian Brodersen has had the most success in SEC play with a 6-3 (.667) mark, all in singles matches. Senior Bradley Friedman is 4-3 (.571) in the league, while junior Stephen Mitchell has posted a 9-7 (.563) mark. Junior Chris Gostek has earned a 9-8 (.529) SEC record. Gostek also leads the team in combined wins with 29 this season.
