Tide Men?s Tennis Beats South Carolina, 6-1
4/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Rainy weather moved today's match between No. 16 Alabama (15-5, 5-3 SEC) and No. 58 South Carolina (11-9, 2-5 SEC) inside to the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility, where both teams played indoor for the first time in weeks. The change from outdoor to indoor did not faze Alabama as they defeated South Carolina 6-1.
"It was a great victory for our team today over a dangerous South Carolina team," said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "It was a complete effort from all the guys from top to bottom. We knew it would be a difficult match and we responded to moving indoors well. In singles, we came out strong and took the first set in the top four spots and I think that was the key to the match."
Alabama jumped out to a 1-0 lead after doubles play, clinching the doubles point for the 16th time this season. The No. 1 pair of Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau dominated their opponents, 8-1, securing the first Tide victory of the match.
Javier Bes and Sammy Struyf earned the second win for the Tide on court two with a come-from-behind victory over South Carolina's Ivan Cressoni and Pedro Rodrigues, 8-6. The duo was down 6-6 and served out the match to clinch the doubles point. Joseph Jung and Saketh Myneni also defeated their opponent, completing the sweep.
Alabama came out strong in singles, controlling the match with wins at Nos. 3, 1, 4, 6 and 5. The Tide's Billy Mertz picked up the first singles victory with a 6-3, 7-5 decision over Pedro Campos. With the win, Mertz improves to 21-7 overall and 5-3 in the SEC. Alabama's Jung defeated Supeko at the No. 1 slot, 6-3, 6-2, while the Tide's Bes clinched the match for the second time this weekend with a, 7-6, 6-3 win over Ivan Cressoni.
At the bottom of the lineup, Thibaudeau and Myneni defeated their opponents to finish the match.
South Carolina's Pedro Rodrigues earned the only win for the Gamecocks from the No. 2 slot, with a three-set victory over Struyf, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.
The Tide heads on the road to finish up conference play, traveling to LSU and Arkansas next weekend before heading to Auburn to finish out the season.
-UA-
#16 Alabama 6, #58 South Carolina 1
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Hank Crisp Indoor Facility
Time: 4 hrs. 15 min.
Results:
Singles Competition
1. No. 89 Joseph Jung (UA) def. Yevgeny Supeko (USC) 6-3, 6-2
2. Pedro Rodrigues (USC) def. Sammy Struyf (UA) 6-7, 6-2, 6-4
3. Billy Mertz (UA) def. Pedro Campos (USC) 6-3, 7-5
4. Javier Bes (UA) def. Ivan Cressoni (USC) 7-6, 6-3
5. No. 121 Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) def. David Wolff (USC) 7-6, 6-2
6. Saketh Myneni (UA) def. Spencer Feldman (USC) 8-5
Doubles Competition
1. No. 28 Dan Buikema/Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) def. Yev Supeko/Pedro Campos (USC) 8-1
2. Joseph Jung/Saketh Myneni (UA) def. Thomas Stoddard/Joe Veeder (USC) 8-6
3. Javier Bes/Sammy Struyf (UA) def. Ivan Cressoni/Pedro Rodrigues (USC) 8-6
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3*,2); Singles (3,1,4*,2,6,5)
