Alabama
Vanderbilt
Men's Tennis Inched Out by Vanderbilt, 4-3
3/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 23, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The 23rd ranked Alabama men's tennis team fell to 34th ranked Vanderbilt today at the Currey Tennis Center. With the loss, Alabama falls to 14-6 overall and 4-2 in the SEC while Vanderbilt improves to 10-5 overall and 2-4 in the SEC.
"Vanderbilt simply played with more heart today and wanted it more," said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "I'm extremely disappointed because we gave it away down the stretch while Vanderbilt stepped up and took the match.
The Crimson Tide looked to be in control of the match early on. The Tide secured the doubles point with wins at nos. one and three. The 12th ranked Tide tandem of Daniel Buikema and Mat Thibaudeau defeated Ryan Preston and Evan Dufaux 8-5. With the win, the pair improves to 17-1 in dual matches and remains undefeated in conference action.
Saketh Myneni and Andrew Felsenthal clinched the point at No. 3 doubles with an 8-4 victory over Vijay Paul and Adam Baker.
In singles, Alabama took four of the six first sets and was in position to take the match. The Tide's Buikema dominated Dufaux 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4 singles to put the Tide up 2-0. Alabama's Sammy Struyf fell at No. 3 singles to put Vanderbilt on the board but Thibaudeau retaliated with a win at No. 2 singles over Vanderbilt's Paul.
With a 3-1 lead and three players still on court, Vanderbilt began to take over the match. The Commodores pulled out second set victories in all three matches and went on to take the match with third set victories at nos. one, five and six in the singles lineup. Alabama's Myneni fell to Preston at No. 1 singles to finish the match.
"It's unfortunate because we had really positioned ourselves well in the conference to this point," said Pate. "We need to be tougher as we have a monumental task with Georgia and Tennessee coming to our place this weekend."
The Tide returns to the Capstone this weekend to host the third ranked Georgia Bulldogs and No. 10 Tennessee.
#23 Alabama 3, #34 Vanderbilt 4 Currey Tennis Center Nashville, Tenn.
Singles: 1. #75 Ryan Preston (VU) d. #88 Saketh Myneni (UA) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 2. #88 Mat Thibaudeau (UA) d. #101 Vijay Paul (VU) 7-6(1), 6-4 3. Nick Cromydas (VU) d. Sammy Struyf (UA) 6-2, 6-2 4. Daniel Buikema (UA) d. Evan Dufaux (VU) 6-4, 6-0 5. Bryant Salcedo (VU) d. Javier Bes (UA) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 6. Alex Zotov (VU) d. Michael Jung (UA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Order of finish: 4,3,2,6,5,1*
Doubles: 1. #12 Buikema/Thibaudeau (UA) d. Preston/Dufaux (VU) 8-5 2. Cromydas/Salcedo (VU) d. Struyf/Bes (UA) 8-4 3. Felsenthal/Myneni (UA) d. Paul/Baker (VU) 8-4 Order of finish: 3,2,1
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Players Mentioned
