Men's Tennis Gears up for Doubleheader on Sunday
2/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 6, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The 19th-ranked men's tennis team (3-1) returns home from its trip to Malibu to take on a pair of instate foes in a doubleheader on Sunday. The Crimson Tide opens the day at Noon (CST) against Samford (0-3) and continues play at 5:00 p.m. (CST) against No. 75 UAB (1-0). All action will take place at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium.
"It will be good to get outside on Sunday at home and try to rebound after a gut-wrenching loss on Sunday," said head coach Billy Pate. "We need to play well and improve in some areas, and we hope to have the chance to do that this weekend against two good teams in Samford and UAB. Both teams are well-coached and will bring their best effort, so we need to be ready and play well."
Alabama is coming off a very successful weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's National Team Indoor Championship qualifying rounds in Malibu. The Tide defeated then No. 22 Miami (Fla.) 4-0, but fell to then No. 23 Pepperdine at the Waves' home courts, 4-3. Despite not qualifying for the National Indoor Championship, Alabama still moved up four spots in the team rankings, from No. 23 to No. 19.
The Tide is very familiar with Samford, as this will be the 39th meeting between the two teams. Alabama owns a commanding 29-9 advantage over the Bulldogs, and has beaten Samford each of the last four years. The Bulldogs are currently winless on the season, having played all three matches in Eugene, Ore. Samford lost all three contests by a score of 5-2.
This will be the 19th meeting between the Tide and UAB, with Alabama winning 14 of the previous 18. The Tide and the Blazers first met in 1980. UAB opened the season with a 6-1 win at home over North Alabama. The Blazers are led by the doubles team of senior Brian Ly and junior Alex Emery, who are currently ranked No. 13 in the Southeast region and No. 29 nationally. This is the second of five consecutive away matches for UAB.
Admission to all Alabama tennis matches is free. Also, live scoring will be available on Rolltide.com by .
