Buikema and Thibaudeau Fall in ITA Regional Doubles Final
10/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
LEXINGTON, KY ?? Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau won five matches at the 2006 Wilson/ITA Fall Southeast Regional Championships to reach the final round of doubles but could not pull a sixth victory as they lost 8-6. Joseph Jung was eliminated in singles after a loss to the top seed in the semifinal round.
Buikema and Thibaudeau squared off against Marco Born and Andreas Siljestrom of Middle Tennessee State in the championship match. Born and Siljestrom, the top seed in the tournament, each stand at 6'9" and used their height and big serves to edge Buikema and Thibaudeau, 8-6. Buikema, who is 6'5" and Thibaudeau, who is 6'3" used the same advantages to reach the finals but were overmatched on Monday as the MTSU duo broke the serve to gain the slight edge and take the match.
The Alabama pair advanced with a semifinal win earlier in the day. They played the 13th-seeded Ivan Bjelica and Philippe Frayssinoux of Mississippi State. Down 5-2 in the match, Buikema and Thibaudeau rallied to win six straight points and win the match 8-5. With the win the Crimson Tide duo improved to 6-2 in the fall.
Jung had the tough task of facing Travis Helgeson, the top seed in the singles bracket. Helgeson showed why he was ranked fifth in the ITA Preseason Poll as he cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory to knock Jung out of the tournament. Jung came within one victory of earning an automatic bid for the upcoming ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in Columbus, Ohio. He will now look for an at-large bid as his record stands at 7-3 after five victories in the ITA Regional, including a win over the No. 12 player in the preseason rankings.
"I am proud of the guys," said head coach Billy Pate. "It was good to be in a big tournament and have guys competing on the last day. Our doubles teams played well throughout. The opponents we face today outplayed us and were better than they had been in the whole tournament. They did things to prevent us from getting anything accomplished. We will now turn around and get ready for the outdoor hidden duals starting Thursday."
Alabama will host Mississippi State at 4 p.m. on Thursday in the first of four hidden dual matches from Oct. 26-29. The Crimson Tide will also welcome Nebraska, Georgia Tech and Miami along with players from UAB for the Crimson Tide Fall Championships.
