2007 Season Review: Men?s Tennis
6/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- 2007 marked a great year to be involved with the University of Alabama men's tennis team. Head coach Billy Pate and the Crimson Tide gained valuable recognition by having one of the most successful seasons in school history.
A LESSON IN HISTORY
The Crimson Tide ended the 2007 season with a No. 14 national ranking, tying the 1983 team for the third-highest final ranking in school history. The No. 14 ranking is also the highest ranking since 1993, when the Tide ended the season at No. 9.
Alabama posted 22 team wins this season, making it the only team in 20 years to have a 20-plus win season.
Senior Joseph Jung became the winningest player in Alabama history and produced 20 or more wins in each of his four seasons at the Capstone, a feat unmatched by any other Tide player.
Billy Mertz entered the record books this season by posting 27 singles victories. That number ties him for sixth all-time for singles victories in a season.
ALABAMA IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Not only did the Tide fare well as a team, but also Alabama ended the season with four ranked individuals, three of which will return next fall. Alabama's lone senior, Joseph Jung, was the only Tide player to hold a national ranking all year and ended the season at No. 96.
Junior Billy Mertz entered the rankings on April 3rd at No. 86 and climbed up for the rest of the season, eventually ending at No. 71.
In doubles, sophomores Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau ended the season just shy of the top 25 at No. 26 after debuting in the rankings at No. 35 in February.
Other members of the team spent time in the rankings but did not finish the season ranked. Thibaudeau spent some time in the singles rankings at No. 121 in the middle of the year while Jung and freshman Saketh Myneni held a No. 44 doubles ranking early in the season.
SUCCESS EQUALS RECOGNITION
Head coach Billy Pate did not go unnoticed this season as he led his team to its fourth NCAA appearance in five seasons and one of its most successful showings in school history. Coach Pate was honored for his outstanding coaching this season with the SEC Co-Coach of the Year and Regional Coach of the Year awards, as well as a National Coach of the Year nomination. Both awards were the first for Coach Pate since he arrived at the Capstone in 2003.
Billy Mertz was also honored for his achievements this season. The junior from Silver Spring, Md. received 2nd team All-SEC honors after posting 25 singles wins in the regular season. Mertz and doubles partner junior Javier Bes also added seven conference doubles victories.
ALABAMA AND THE SEC
Alabama proved to be a dominating force in the conference this year after posting a 7-4 record, tying the Tide for third place. After a disappointing loss to Florida in the SEC tournament, the Tide rebounded and was one of five SEC schools to advance to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. The Tide finished the season with the third highest national team ranking out of the conference schools behind No. 1 Georgia and No. 7 Ole Miss. Alabama returns five of its six singles players and will have a good chance at the conference title next season.
SEASON RECAP
Alabama started off the season at home, posting a 5-1 record, with its only loss to No. 4 Virginia. Even though the Tide lost the battle with the Cavaliers, it proved to be a positive experience. Alabama won the doubles point against its first ranked team of the season and the No. 1 tandem of Buikema and Thibaudeau broke onto the national scene after defeating No. 7 Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey.
After the loss to Virginia, the Tide downed Furman and Winthrop before facing No. 23 Clemson in its last pre-season home match. Alabama fared well against the higher-ranked squad from South Carolina and used its dominating doubles play to get ahead going into singles. The Tide dominated the Tigers in the bottom of the lineup with Buikema clinching the match from the No. 6 slot. The combination of strong doubles play and a solid bottom half of the lineup in singles would prove to be the recipe for success for the remainder of the season.
After Clemson, the Tide headed on its first road trip of the season to face Princeton and Columbia. Alabama won with ease at both venues and entered conference play with confidence.
The Crimson Tide knew it was going to be tested in the first half of conference action and they proved they were up to the challenge. Alabama spend the first two weeks on the road, first at Vanderbilt and Kentucky and then on to Ole Miss and Mississippi State. All four matches came down to the wire, with the Tide capturing a 4-3 victory at Vanderbilt, No. 7 Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
Upon returning home, Alabama took a short hiatus from conference action to play in the Blue Gray national in Montgomery, Ala. The Tide faced three formidable opponents on the road to the tournament championship, where they faced a tough Notre Dame squad. Alabama started off strong by capturing the doubles point, however, Notre Dame's singles lineup proved too tough for the Tide and eventually fell by a 4-1 decision.
Back in conference action, the Tide encountered two tough teams and found itself on a three-match losing streak before bouncing back against No. 15 Florida at home. Once again, Alabama took the doubles point before dominating the bottom of the singles lineup en route to a 5-2 victory. The Tide then breezed by South Carolina and Arkansas, falling to LSU along the way.
Back at home, the Tide hosted a non-conference double-header to honor senior Joseph Jung. Jung made his final appearance at the UA Varsity courts as a member of the Crimson Tide and helped his team earn two solid victories on that day.
Alabama headed on the road the next day to in-state foe Auburn for the final match of the regular season. With a win, the Tide would secure a four-way for third heading into the conference tournament. In an exciting match that lasted two days the Tide came out victorious with Thibaudeau clinching the match from the No. 4 slot. With the match knotted at 3-3 and Thibaudeau in his third set, rain forced the match to be delayed until the following day. Thibaudeau dominated the rest of the match and clinched his fifth match of the season.
Following the emotional match with Auburn, the Tide set its sights on the SEC tournament. Alabama breezed through the first round against South Carolina but did not fare so well against the Florida Gators.
With the conference season coming to an end, the No. 17 Crimson Tide found itself heading to Durham, N.C., home of the No. 14 ranked host Duke, for the first two round of the NCAA tournament. Pate and the Tide focused set their sights on the first-round foe No. 51 East Tennessee State. East Tennessee State was a tough first round pick and Alabama had to play to their full potential to overcome the Bucs.
Next on the list was No. 14 Duke on its home turf. Alabama came out flat in doubles and lost the point for only the fifth time during the season. However, the Tide emerged with a different attitude in singles, winning five of the six first sets before rain forced the match into a 3 hour delay that resulted in finishing the match indoors. The match came down to Jung on court two against Duke's Joey Atas. Down one set, Jung came from behind in the second set and won in a tie-breaker to force a third and deciding set. Jung defeated Atas 7-5 in the third set to send his team to the Sweet Sixteen for only the fifth time in school history. Jung also picked up his 20th win and became the only Tide player to earn 20 wins in each of his four seasons at the Capstone.
Alabama headed to Athens, Ga. for the first time since 2003 and prepared to face No. 4 Baylor. Alabama lost the doubles point but put in a good showing in singles. The Tide was in good positions on courts 2, 3 and 6 in singles before Thibaudeau lost the deciding match on court 4 in three sets. Baylor won the match by a 4-0 ledger and went on to the semi-finals.
Although the team's season was over, two Alabama individuals stayed in Athens, Ga. to prepare for the NCAA doubles tournament. The Tide's top tandem of Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau were selected as one of the nation's top 32 doubles teams to duke it out for the national doubles title. The Alabama pair drew a tough first round match-up against the reigning champions from Illinois. Alabama lost in the first round in a close match and Illinois went on to the finals for the second consecutive year.
Alabama ended the season with a 22-8 record, nine returners and a lot of valuable experience that will better prepare the Tide for the 2008 season.
"I'm very proud of the season we had," stated Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "Last fall the guys really set some lofty but achievable goals and were able to reach almost all of them. However, this is where we want to be on an annual basis. I think we'll be eager to achieve even more next year and I'm excited about the potential this team has to do that."
-UA-
