Alabama
Georgia
Men's Tennis Falls to No. 3 Georgia
3/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 28, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The 24th ranked Alabama men's tennis team fell in a closely contested match today to third ranked Georgia, 6-1, at the UA Varsity Tennis Courts. With the loss, the Tide falls to 14-7 overall and 4-3 in the SEC, while Georgia improves to 17-1 overall and 7-0 in the SEC.
"Though the final score doesn't indicate it we really had an opportunity in this match that we didn't capitalize on," said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "When Sammy won the second set we were in third sets in the three matches on court. From that point,however, we didn't finish well and I'm disappointed in that.
I give Georgia credit. They have a lot of teams taking their best shot at them and they do well in clutch situations. To beat a national champion you must take advantage of the few chances you get."
The Tide dropped the doubles point for only the fourth time this season to Georgia. The Tide fell at numbers one and two in two highly contested matches to give the Dogs the point. Alabama's top tandem of Daniel Buikema and Mat Thibaudeau, ranked No. 12 nationall, fell to the 31st ranked tandem of Nate Schnugg and Jamie Hunt 9-7. On court two, Andrew Felsenthal and Saketh Myneni dropped a close match to Travis Helgeson and Luis Flores 9-8(7-3).
On court three, the Tide tandem of Sammy Struyf and Javier Bes outlasted Christian Vitulli and Josh Varela 9-8(7-3).
Georgia extended its lead to 2-0 as the Bulldog's sixth ranked top singles player of Travis Helgeson defeated No. 85 Saketh Myneni 6-3, 6-1. On court six, Alabama's Michael Jung responded with a win to bring the score to 1-2 and move Alabama within one of the Dogs. He defeated Georgia's Varela 6-1, 6-3 to put the Tide on the board.
Alabama fell at No. 4 to give the Bulldogs its second two-point lead of the day. The Tide's Buikema fell to Vitulli 6-4, 6-3. On court three, Struyf pulled off a 10-8 win in the second set tiebreaker to keep Alabama in the match with three other Tide players still competing.
On court two, Alabama's Thibaudeau, ranked No. 88 nationally, defeated the eigth ranked Schnugg 6-4 in the first set but could not hold on to the lead and dropped two consecutive sets to give Georgia the match.
With the match already decided, Alabama's Bes and Struyf fell on courts four and three to finish the match.
"We had Georgia today starting in doubles and didn't respond," said Pate. "I like where our program is overall but at the same time if we want to get where we want to we need to compete better with teams like Georgia."
Alabama retuns to action Sunday at the UA Varsity Courts as it plays host to the 12th ranked Tennessee Volunteers. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm. Live statistics will be available for the match.
#24 Alabama 1, #3 Georgia 6 UA Varsity Courts Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Singles: 1. #6 Travis Helgeson (UGA) d. #85 Saketh Myneni (UA) 6-3, 6-1 2. #8 Nate Schnugg (UGA) d. #88 Mat Thibaudeau (UA) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 3. #63 Luis Flores (UGA) d. Sammy Struyf (UA) 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-1 4. Jamie Hunt (UGA) d. Javier Bes (UA) 6-7(3), 7-5, 10-6 5. Christian Vitulli (UGA) d. Daniel Buikema (UA) 6-4, 6-3 6. Michael Jung (UA) d. Josh Varela (UGA) 6-1, 6-3 Order of finish: 1,6,5,2*,3,4
Doubles: 1. #31 Hunt/Schnugg (UGA) d. #12 Buikema/Thibaudeau (UA) 9-7 2. Helgeson/Flores (UGA) d. Felsenthal/Myneni (UA) 9-8(3) 3. Bes/Struyf (UA) d. Vitulli/Varela (UGA) 8-7(3) Order of finish: 1,2,3
Players Mentioned
