Alabama Tennis Sweeps Opening Day With Two Victories
1/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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The University of Alabama men's tennis team (2-0) opened up the 2005 season in near perfect fashion with pair of victories at the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility on Friday. No. 37 Alabama defeated Birmingham-Southern 6-1 and No. 68 Central Florida 6-1.
Alabama has now won six consecutive season-opening matches and nine of its last 10 season openers.
On the day the Crimson Tide played 18 matches, winning 16, including a perfect 6-0 record in doubles. Alabama opened up each match by winning all three doubles matches followed by winning the first three singles matches to clinch victory.
"I thought we played inspired doubles and I'm extremely pleased," said head coach Billy Pate. "We played with lots of energy but more importantly we executed well."
The Tide's freshmen were a combined 7-1 on the day. All six freshmen started at least one match in singles on Friday with Billy Mertz and Andrew Felsenthal each winning twice. In the opener against BSC, Pate played five freshmen in his single's lineup and it paid off. Four of the five freshmen earned victories including Mertz, who moved to 12-5 on the season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Philipp Haas. Felsenthal also won in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 to improve to 9-4. Javier Bes, Jordie Kindervater and Taylor Striplin also added wins.
"We played some different guys to find out what we need to do as we move toward the conference scheduled," said Pate. "It's good for these guys to get their feet wet, play at a high level and finish on top. I'm proud of how our young guys answered the challenge. We are going to rely on them and they are going to have to contribute this season."
In the opener, sophomore Eric Molnar played at the No. 1 position for the first time in his collegiate career and defeated Eric Baumgardner 6-1, 6-2. In the nightcap, Molnar played a hard-fought three-set match with UCF's Joel Allen that lasted 2:45 before Allen won 2-6, 7-6, 6-4.
The Tide's top two players, No. 31 Luigi D'Agord (18-4) and No. 92 Joseph Jung (9-4), each sat out the singles in the opener but earned wins in the nightcap against UCF. D'Agord fought back in the second set after trailing by two games to win 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). Jung was stretched to the third set by UCF's Ener Gursoy but won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
In doubles, the Crimson Tide's Sammy Struyf and Javier Bes each won their first collegiate matches. Struyf played at No. 1 doubles with Luigi D'Agord in both matches and the duo won twice. Bes teamed up with Molnar for a pair of wins as well.
Alabama will return to action on Sunday with another double-header. The Tide will take on Furman at 10 a.m. and will battle Troy at 3 p.m. Both matches will be played at the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility. Live stats will be available on www.rolltide.com.
Tennis Match Results
Birmingham-Southern vs Alabama
Jan 28, 2005 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Alabama 6, Birmingham-Southern 1
Singles competition:
1. Eric Molnar (BAMA) def. Eric Baumgardner (BSC) 6-1, 6-2
2. Thomas Richter (BSC) def. Sammy Struyf (BAMA) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
3. Billy Mertz (BAMA) def. Philipp Haas (BSC) 6-4, 6-4
4. Andrew Felsenthal (BAMA) def. Richard Turner (BSC) 6-2, 6-1
5. Jordie Kindervater (BAMA) def. Mauricio Engler (BSC) 6-3, 7-5 (7-4)
6. Taylor Striplin (BAMA) def. David Ray (BSC) 6-3, 4-6, 10-8
Doubles competition:
1. Luigi D'Agord/Sammy Struyf (BAMA) def. Eric Baumgardner/Thomas Richter (BSC) 8-4
2. Eric Molnar/Javier Bes (BAMA) def. Mauricio Engler/Richard Turner (BSC) 8-6
3. Andrew Felsenthal/RJ Murray (BAMA) def. David Ray/Philipp Haas (BSC) 8-3
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,4,3,2,5,6)
Tennis Match Results
Central Florida vs Alabama
Jan 28, 2005 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
#37 Alabama 6, #68 Central Florida 1
Singles competition:
1. #31 Luigi D'Agord (BAMA) def. Antonio Sierra (UCF) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
2. #92 Joseph Jung (BAMA) def. Ener Gursoy (UCF) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
3. Joel Allen (UCF) def. Eric Molnar (BAMA) 2-6, 7-6, 6-4
4. Javier Bes (BAMA) def. Simon Jaeger (UCF) 6-4, 6-4
5. Andrew Felsenthal (BAMA) def. Paul Ramy (UCF) 6-1, 6-2
6. Billy Mertz (BAMA) def. Sinan Sudas (UCF) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles competition:
1. Luigi D'Agord/Sammy Struyf (BAMA) def. Joel Allen/Simon Jaeger (UCF) 8-6
2. Eric Molnar/Javier Bes (BAMA) def. Rhett Rosen/Ener Gursoy (UCF) 8-3
3. RJ Murray/Joseph Jung (BAMA) def. Antonio Sierra/Sinan Sudas (UCF) 8-6
Match Notes:
Central Florida (0-2); National ranking #68
Alabama (2-0); National ranking #37
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,2,5,3,6)
