Tide Men's Tennis Team Downs NC State, 4-3
3/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The 14th-ranked University of Alabama men's tennis team advanced to the semi-finals of the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic with a 4-3 victory over 33rd-ranked North Carolina State Friday afternoon at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center in Montgomery. With the victory, Alabama improved to 12-2 overall and advanced to meet the winner of Friday night's match between Boise State and South Alabama. The Tide will play that match Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
The Tide faced an unusual situation Friday, having completed a rain-delayed match with Louisville earlier Friday morning, the team had to regroup to face another tough opponent a few hours later. The team responded well, taking an early lead in the singles matches before the teams ended up splitting 3-3 before Alabama clinched the match with the doubles point. The unusual scenario, playing doubles after singles, was due to weather concerns. But the weather improved as the day wore on.
“It was a very unique situation for us, having to wait until the next day to complete one match then starting another with the singles play, but we responded very well,” said head coach Billy Pate. “It was a seesaw match against a great team. NC State is well coached and they grabbed some early momentum. We knew we needed to match their energy.”
The Tide gained victories from Joseph Jung at number two (7-6, 6-3 over James McGee), a three-set win by Billy Mertz at number three (3-6, 6-2, 6-2) and Mathieu Thibaudeau at number five (6-4, 6-3 over Jay Weinacker) to split the six singles points. Victories by the doubles duos of Javier Bes/Sammy Struyf and Jung/Saketh Myneni eventually proved to be the difference in the match.
#14 Alabama 4, #33 North Carolina State 3 Friday, March 16, 2007 at Montgomery, Alabama Lagoon Park Tennis Center
SINGLES 1. Nick Cavaday (NCSU) d. Sammy Struyf (UA) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 2. Joseph Jung (UA) d. James McGee (NCSU) 7-6, 6-3 3. Billy Mertz (UA) d. Andre Iriarte (NCSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 4. William Noblitt (NCSU) d. Javier Bes (UA) 6-0, 6-1 5. Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) d. Jay Weinacker (NCSU) 6-4, 6-3 6. Christian Welte (NCSU) d. Houssam Yassine (UA) 6-2, 6-2
DOUBLES 1. Nick Cavaday/William Noblitt (NCSU) d. Dan Buikema/Matthieu Thibaudeau (UA) 8-4 2. Joseph Jung/Saketh Myneni (UA) d. James McGee/Jay Weinacker (NCSU) 8-5 3. Javier Bes/Sammy Struyf (UA) d. Ben Zink/Christian Welte (NCSU) 9-8
