Men?s Tennis Hosts Florida and South Carolina
3/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- The No. 16 Alabama men's tennis team hosts No. 15 Florida Friday at 3:00 p.m. and No. 58 South Carolina Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at the UA Varsity Courts in Tuscaloosa.
"We face a pivotal weekend as we enter our last SEC home stand and the stretch run of the conference race," said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "Florida has possibly the most imposing top three in the country and South Carolina is always a dangerous team. We simply must play at a high level in order to achieve the goals we have set forth for this team."
Halfway through the conference race, Alabama sits at third in the West behind Ole Miss and LSU after falling to both Tennessee and Georgia last weekend. In the East, Georgia is in the lead followed by Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina in fourth.
Alabama (13-5, 3-3 SEC) is led by the No. 28 top doubles pair of Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau. In singles, Joseph Jung is No. 89, Thibaudeau is No. 121 and Billy Mertz, who picked up his 20th win of the season over Georgia last weekend.
Florida (9-4, 4-2 SEC) comes off a successful conference weekend, defeating Arkansas and LSU in Gainesville. The Gators are led by No. 4 Jesse Levine who is a perfect 12-0 in dual matches from the No. 1 singles slot.
The match marks a meeting between teacher and student as Pate faces his former mentor Florida head coach Andy Jackson, who coached Pate at Mississippi State.
Alabama is 15-27 all-time against Florida, dating back to 1955. The Tide's most recent victory was a 4-0 decision in 2001.
South Carolina (11-7, 2-4 SEC) split with LSU and Arkansas at home last weekend, losing to LSU then defeating Arkansas. The Tide leads the all-time series with the Gamecocks by one match 14-13 and looks to avenge a 3-4 loss suffered last season.
Live stats for both matches are available through www.rolltide.com and admission to both events is free.
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