Tide Wraps Up Road Swing at Michigan Saturday
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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Alabama’s men’s tennis team will complete a four-match road swing Saturday when it travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. to battle the Michigan Wolverines (3-2) at 6 p.m.
The Crimson Tide (5-2) is 1-2 on its current road swing, but is coming off a win over William & Mary last Sunday and will be looking to finish the trip with back-to-back wins.
“We need to keep our momentum going,” Alabama head coach Billy Pate said. “Michigan is a good team that is well coached but is trying to establish an identity. This will be another challenge for us, similar to last week.”
One common opponent is William & Mary, who Alabama and Michigan both beat. While Alabama’s match with the Tribe came down to the final match, Michigan won easily, 6-1.
This will be just the sixth meeting between Alabama and Michigan. The Tide has won three of the previous five meetings, including a 4-3 win the last time the two played in 2002. Michigan will enter Saturday’s match with just one ranked opponent, a far cry from what Alabama faced in Charlottesville, Virg. last Friday when UVA entered the match with five ranked players. Brian Hung, a sophomore, is Michigan’s top ranked player and is ranked at No. 70 by the ITA. He is 8-9 on the season.
The Tide’s Javier Bes (5-1) has been a welcomed addition to the team since coming to Alabama in January. He has won five consecutive matches. In fact, Bes has yet to lose in dual match competition. On the other side of things, Luigi D’Agord has run into hard times over the last three matches. Since earning his 20th victory of the season on January 30, D’Agord has lost three matches in row. The Tide will need him to reverse that trend Saturday.
