2015 Net News - Feb. 26
2/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oh the weather outside is frightful but the tennis indoors is so delightful. Just when I thought we were close to getting over the hump of winter weather and slide into an early, sunny Spring, an outdoor match played at 31 degrees, a snow day (or hour which led to some excited kids in the neighborhood and no school) and a Friday night SEC opener in the friendly confines of the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility have kept things in perspective ... anything can happen in Alabama.
Before we move onto this weekend's hottest (or warmest) show in town, I'd like to send out a huge ROLL TIDE to the tournament organizers, officials, housing families, sponsors and Bama Tennis fans at the Blue Gray Tennis Classic last week. What an incredibly fun event that saw eight men's and eight women's teams battle in cold, windy and damp conditions. Overall some great things came out of the weekend for the team as we continue to move the "ball closer to the goal line." Some highlights included:
-Freshman Korey Lovett debuting at No. 1 singles and coming up big against childhood friend Hunter Harrington of Clemson. He used great patience and timely strikes to beat his senior opponent.
-Fellow freshman Danny Kerznerman was down a set and 1-5 and 3-6 in his second set tiebreaker vs. Clemsons Hampton Drake before winning the breaker 9-7 and being up in the third before the match was stopped. DK then backed up that performance with an even better one against Mississippi State's Tassilo Schmid. The Brooklyn Beast was fearless and motivated to put away his opponents all weekend.
-Sophomore Nikko Madregallejo rebounded against our Mississippi neighbors with passionate positioning and plenty of passing shots. You could hear the Southern California native screaming "Come On" after virtually every point he won. And you thought he was a quiet guy. Well this mellow man was awarded with the black shirt of the week. Look out!
-Senior co-captain Stuart Kenyon showed great fortitude in coming back from an 0-5 first set deficit to win a thrilling 7-5, 6-4 match against Hail State's Mate Cutura, last year's National Junior College champion.
-Coach Ryler DeHeart captured the second annual ping pong tournament at the Chapmans (Will & Amy), while sophomore Sean Donohue was dominant in knockout at the Seale house (Brooks & Jennifer). Both families hosted very tasty dinners for the team. Additional shout outs to Brooke & Melissa Lawson and Spud & Nancy Seale for their tremendous hospitality not only for our players but also a dog name Dixie (Husack).
The final day of the BG was cancelled due to rain, so we're pumped for our conference opener taking place this Friday at 5 p.m. against none other than Mississippi State. Our 4-3 defeat still tastes a bit sour, and we are excited to play in front of the home crowd again, as it's been a few weeks since we last battled in Tuscaloosa. On Sunday, we welcome both Jackson State and Jacksonville State for a non-conference doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Some questions surfaced once again about format as the 2015 NCAA Champs will revert back to the old "ad" format. We were hoping this wouldn't be the case as we had the support of the ITA Operating Committee, NCAA Tennis Championship Committee and the USTA. So the format debate wages on. The SEC men voted to play the new format all the way through the season, while women's coaches voted to play regular scoring and warm-up as well as playing all matches out. So there will be some differences between the two programs but one thing stands clear - come on out and share in the excitement of Bama Tennis.
So join us for one or both days. Sunday should be warmer per the local forecast, which means we would play outside. If you can't make it to campus you can follow live scoring here.
Thanks again to the Blue Gray as well as all of you for your continued support.
Roll Tide, George
Players Mentioned
