Men?s Tennis Falls to No. 7 Texas
2/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
SEATTLE, Wash.- The 10th ranked University of Alabama men's tennis team fell to seventh ranked Texas today, 4-0, at the Seattle Tennis Club in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. With the loss Alabama falls to 7-1 and Texas improves to 7-0.
"We fought hard against Texas but did not execute in some critical points in the match," said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "Texas is a great team and certainly capable of competing for the national championship."
Texas jumped out to a quick lead over the Tide after doubles. Alabama's top tandem of Daniel Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau fell 8-5 to Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico before Sammy Struyf and Javier Bes fell in a 8-6 decision to Texas' Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala at the No. 3 slot. At No. 2, Michael Jung and Saketh Myneni went on a three game run to tie the score at 6-6 before play was suspended.
Alabama had trouble in singles against the Longhorns, falling in all six first sets. At No. 2, the Tide's Thibaudeau fell, 6-2, 6-1, to give Texas a 2-0 lead. Bes was defeated by Texas' Milan Mihailovic, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 6 to put the Longhorns up 3-0.
On court one, Alabama's Myneni got behind early but came back in the second set to defeat Kutrovsky, 6-4, and send the match into a third set before play was suspended. Buikema fell behind early on court five but rallied back to knot the set at 5-5 before play was ended. At No. 4, Jung fell to Barriga, 6-4, 6-3, to give Texas its fourth and final point of the match.
"We need to learn from this loss and move forward as we will definitely have a battle with host Washington," said Pate. "They really pushed Georgia to the limit last night."
The Tide is back in action today as it squares off against No. 15 Washington tonight at 8:30 p.m. PST at the Lloyd Nordstrom Tennis Center on the University of Washington campus.
Live statistics and live video for tonight's match can be viewed at www.gohuskies.com.
#10 Alabama 0, #7 Texas 4
Seattle Tennis Club
Seattle, Wash.
Singles
1. Saketh Myneni (UA) v. #53 Dimitar Kutrovsky (UT) 4-6, 6-4, unf.
2. #24 Kellen Damico (UT) d. #99 Mat Thibaudeau (UA) 6-2, 6-1
3. Sammy Struyf (UA) v. #52 Ed Corrie (UT) 3-6, 3-5, unf.
4. Luis Diaz Barriga (UT) d. Michael Jung (UA) 6-4, 6-3
5. Daniel Buikema (UA) v. Josh Zavala (UT) 4-6, 5-5, unf.
6. Milan Mihailovic (UT) d. Javier Bes (UA) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 2,6,4*
Doubles
1. Corrie/Damico (UT) d. Buikema/Thibaudeau (UA) 8-5
2. Myneni/Jung (UA) vs. Hubert Chodkiewicz/Barriga (UT) 6-6 unf.
3. Kutrovsky/Zavala (UT) d. Bes/Struyf (UA) 8-6
Order of finish: 1,3*
-UA-
