Men's Tennis Sends Three to USTA Invitational
9/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 18, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Three members of the men's tennis team will take part in the USTA National Tennis Center Men's College Invitational Sept. 19-21 in Flushing, N.Y. Senior Michael Jung will look to improve on his 3-0 performance after last weekend at the PSU Fall Classic, while teammate Billy Mertz, who currently stands at No. 106 in the ITA preseason singles rankings, will take the court for the first time in almost one year after sitting out with a medical redshirt. Freshman John Lewis will see the first action of his collegiate career at the Invitational.
"This weekend presents another good opportunity for us to play outside our region against some different teams," said head coach Billy Pate. "There are a lot of strong teams from the east as well as other parts of the country. This also gives our guys a unique opportunity to play at the USTA National Tennis Center which is the site of the US Open. This is the first time I can recall a national college tournament being held there, so it will be great exposure for us and exciting for our guys to compete on those courts."
The three-day event will feature 109 players from 18 teams including Alabama, Army, Binghamton, Boston College, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Farleigh Dickinson, Harvard, Louisville, Marist, Mississippi, Penn, Princeton, St. Bonaventure, St. John's and Yale.
Jung, the only member of the trio competing this weekend who traveled to the PSU Fall Classic, won each of his singles matches in the Tide's opening event. Mertz enjoyed an extremely successful junior campaign finishing the season at No. 71 in singles and being named Second Team All-SEC. Mertz posted a team-high 27 wins in singles tying him for sixth place all time in singles win in a season. Lewis joined the Tide as the top ranked 18 and under player in Alabama. He finished as the No. 1 player in his age group for the past three seasons.
"We're looking forward to seeing Billy back in action after his medical hardship last year as well as watching Lewis play in his first collegiate tournament," added Pate.
Following the USTA National Tennis Center Men's College Invitational, the Tide will send three to the HEB Baylor Intercollegiate Invitational Sept. 26-28 in Waco, Texas. Alabama's first, and only, home event of the fall is slated for Oct. 24-26 when it hosts the Crimson Tide Fall Classic.
