No. 19 Men's Tennis Heads to No. 45 Oklahoma
2/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 18, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 19 men's tennis team (3-4) will play its last of four consecutive matches away from home on Friday, Feb. 19 when it takes on the No. 45 ranked Oklahoma Sooners (3-1) in Norman. The match is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (CST).
"This is yet another important match in our season," head coach Billy Pate said. "Oklahoma is an improved team, and I know first-year coach John Roddick has brought an intensity to their way of doing things so we'll get a great effort from them. It will be a tough assignment and we're looking forward to trying to get back on track after some tough matches last weekend at the ITA Indoors."
The Crimson Tide is coming off a tough weekend in Charlottesville, Va., as part of the 2010 ITA National Indoor Championships. Alabama lost all three matches on the weekend, going down 4-0 to No. 6 Virginia, 4-1 to No. 11 Mississippi, and 4-0 to No. 5 Baylor. Freshman Jarryd Botha picked up the only singles victory on the weekend, defeating Mississippi's Adrian Forsberg Skogeng 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday.
The Tide is still looking for its first win away from Tuscaloosa this season.
Oklahoma is coming off a 7-0 sweep of No. 50 Arkansas last Friday. The Sooners won all six singles matches in straight sets. Oklahoma has three singles players ranked inside the top 100 in the nation. The Sooners are in the midst of a six match home stand, and currently hold a 2-0 record at home this season.
Alabama is 3-0 all-time against Oklahoma. The two teams last met in 2006, with the Tide winning by a score of 5-2.
Next up, Alabama returns home for five consecutive home matches, beginning on Friday, Feb. 26 when Pepperdine comes to town.
Players Mentioned
