Alabama Men's Tennis Drops SEC Opener to Georgia

Friday, March 04, 2005

Billy Mertz

TUSCALOOSA, AL -- Alabama men's tennis dropped to 0-1 in Southeastern Conference play Friday afternoon with a 6-1 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Eighth ranked Georgia (7-1; 1-0) entered the match as big favorites and never allowed Alabama (5-5; 0-1) to seize much momentum. UGA won all three doubles matches followed by the first two singles matches to take a 3-1 lead. Matias Ormaza (No. 76) then clinched the win for UGA with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Alabama's Sammy Struyf.

But the 6-1 final score didn't indicate how close the match was at times. Midway through the first set in singles, Alabama led in four of six singles matches and it looked as though the Tide would make a run. However, it couldn't capitalize.

Billy Mertz earned the Tide's only point on the afternoon. Mertz defeated Colin Purcell at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 6-4. Mertz is now 16-9 on the season, 6-4 in dual match play and 1-0 in the SEC.

"Billy Mertz played as well as I've ever seen him play," Alabama assistant coach Lee Nickell said. "We've showed we can hang with the top teams but we have to capitalize on our opportunities. Georgia did that today."

Next up for Alabama is a trip to play Tennessee on Sunday. The match will begin at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available at http://www.rolltide.com/ or http://www.utsports.com/. Next weekend Alabama will be in action at home on Friday and Sunday with matches against Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

Tennis Match Results
Georgia vs Alabama
Mar 04, 2005 at Tuscaloosa

#8 Georgia 6, #45 Alabama 1

Singles competition:

1. Antonio Ruiz (UGA) def. #46 Luigi D'Agord (BAMA) 6-1, 6-4
2. #23 John Isner (UGA) def. #99 Joseph Jung (BAMA) 6-4, 6-4
3. #67 Strahinja Boubusic (UGA) def. Eric Molnar (BAMA) 6-4, 6-2
4. Billy Mertz (BAMA) def. Colin Purcell (UGA) 6-3, 6-4
5. #76 Matias Ormaza (UGA) def. Sammy Struyf (BAMA) 6-4, 7-5
6. #82 Ricardo Gonzalez (UGA) def. RJ Murray (BAMA) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles competition:

1. #3 John Isner/Antonio Ruiz (UGA) def. Luigi D'Agord/Eric Molnar (BAMA) 8-6
2. #32 Strahinja Boubusic/Colin Purcell (UGA) def. RJ Murray/Sammy Struyf (BAMA) 8-3
3. Matic Omerzel/Ricardo Gonzalez (UGA) def. Billy Mertz/Jordie Kindervater (BAMA) 8-5

Match Notes:

Georgia (7-1,1-0); National ranking #8
Alabama (5-5, 0-1); National ranking #45
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,3,4,5,2,6)

PHOTO GALLERY

Match Georgia 01
Luigi D'Agord
(Photo by Michelle Lepianka)