Alabama Men?s Tennis Falls to Tennessee
3/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.- The No. 36 Tennessee men's tennis team dominated the singles lineup, defeating the No. 11 Crimson Tide in a 5-2 decision in Knoxville.
Alabama looked strong after the doubles lineup having earned the point to start the match, but the Vols rallied back to win the first four singles contests and eventually clinch the match.
"Tennessee played a better match than we did today," said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "We got down early in singles and didn't respond. We simply weren't tough enough in terms of competing and finding a way back into the match."
Alabama continued to dominate the doubles point, earning 16 of 17 doubles points on the year. The Tide's Sammy Struyf and Javier Bes picked up the first point, defeating Kiril Tcherveniachki and Kaden Hensel by a score of 8-5 in the No. 3 slot. Bes and Mertz improve to 12-4 overall, 10-1 in dual matches. Alabama tandem Joseph Jung and Saketh Myneni defeated Bobby Cameron and Davey Sandgren in the No. 2 spot, 8-6, to secure the point.
The Tide's Jung, Struyf and Bes fell to their opponents at Nos. 1,2 and 5, giving the Vols a 3-1 advantage early on. Tennessee's Davey Sandgren finished the match by beating Alabama's Billy Mertz in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot.
Tide freshman Myneni earned the only singles point for the Tide, defeating Adam Hubble 7-6, 1-0 at the No. 5 slot. With the win, Myneni improves to 10-6 on the year.
"We are going to correct some things and be ready to play a good match against Georgia on Sunday."
The Crimson Tide is back in action Sunday, March 25 to take on top-ranked Georgia at the UA Varsity Courts in Tuscaloosa at 1:00 p.m. Live stats will be available through www.rolltide.com and admission is free.
-UA-
No. 36 Tennessee 5, No. 11 Alabama 2
Knoxville, Tenn.
Results:
Singles Competition
1. No. 36 Kaden Hensel (UT) def. No. 89 Joseph Jung (UA) 6-3, 6-2
2. No. 29 Bobby Cameron (UT) def. Sammy Struyf (UA) 6-4, 6-1
3. Davey Sandgren (UT) def. Billy Mertz (UA) 6-4, 6-3
4. Ben Rogers (UT) def. No. 121 Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) 7-6, 6-3
5. Kiril Tcherveniachki (UT) def. Javier Bes (UA) 6-1, 6-2
6. Saketh Myneni (UA) def. Adam Hubble (UT) 7-6, 1-0
Doubles Competition
1. No. 55 Adam Hubble/Ben Rogers (UT) def. No. 28 Dan Buikema/Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) 8-5
2. Saketh Myneni/Joseph Jung (UA) def. Bobby Cameron/Davey Sandgren (UT) 8-6
3. Javier Bes/Billy Mertz (UA) def. Kiril Tcherveniachki/Kaden Hensel (UT) 8-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2*); Singles (5,2,1,3*,6,4)
