2015 Net News - Feb. 6
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
What a festive couple of days we had last weekend at the indoor and outdoor courts. The weekend began with a High School Coaches Workshop on Friday night and followed with a 10 & under clinic Saturday morning, both events organized and directed by the Alabama Tennis Association. The kids met the men's and women's teams as well as toured the tennis facilities. It gave them an up close look at what Alabama tennis players do "on the job" each day. Several of the kids stuck around and joined an efficient ball running crew from the Pelham Racquet Club for on court action for the men's match versus Florida State.
A full house of Bama Tennis supporters filled the seats at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility, which made it a standing room only affair. The men started out quickly with aggressive and solid doubles play. All three matches had the Crimson Tide on top with only two matches needed to secure the doubles point. Senior Andrew Goodwin and freshman Danny Kerznerman were victorious first by a 6-3 score over the undefeated twin brother team of Terrence and Terrell Whitehurst. According to "Goodie" the "crowd was a huge factor in getting out of the gates quickly and there's no better feeling than playing and winning at home."
While team captain Stuart Kenyon and sophomore Sean Donohue went up a break early in their match, junior Becker O'Shaughnessey and freshman Korey Lovett used big serves and a few timely return winners to claim a late break. That put the matches on Bama's rackets and O'Shaughnessey/Lovett were the first across the finish line giving the home team a 1-0 lead.
The crowd raced down from their seats to grab some free, hot pizza during the quick 5-minute intermission before singles began. Serves were soon struck and the Tide and Seminoles split first sets on all courts. This was to be a close contest with not much separating the two teams.
"We came out really strong in doubles and the guys were fired up and ready to go in singles. I told them it's just one point and you can never be satisfied," commented assistant coach and new dad, Ryler DeHeart.
Florida State jumped out in front with wins on courts 5 & 6, while the remaining four matches were going the distance with third sets determining the match outcome. Freshman Kerznerman, aka "DK", used his tenacious competitive spirit and ability to move his opponent around the court to secure his victory.
"I went up 4-0 in the first and lost the set which was disappointing but also motivational as it kept me locked in the rest of the match. I wasn't going to let go of any leads from there on out."
The Noles extended their lead to 3-2 when veteran Nunez came back to defeat freshman Lovett at #2. It now came down to Big Beck and Nikko, who were slugging away in third sets.
"I really didn't know what the team score was and just focused on dictating play as much as possible," said the Southern California sophomore, "That's what allowed me to win my second set and focus on the finish line in the third."
Both players had chances to break in their final sets but the Noles held on and captured the 4th and deciding point on court #1 resulting in a 4-2 FSU win. A tough pill to swallow for the home team as it was a considerable positive difference from their performance in the Kick-Off Weekend, but execution at the right time proved to be a large factor in the outcome.
So it was back to work on Monday where last week's black shirt winner, DK, decided to award himself the black shirt again for his effort and relentless attack - we couldn't disagree.
The week has been filled with solid trainings both in the weight room and on the courts including a bod pod test to see how fit our team was during the first month of the season. We also had our inaugural ultimate frisbee game, which also went three sets with Ryler's squad coming out on top.
Now it's off to the Sooner State and road battles with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. Both matches will be played at Noon on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Sunday's match will be streamed on SoonerSports.tv and then later televised on Fox Sports Oklahoma Monday at 5 p.m. CT. We will do our best to show the Sooner Nation what Bama Tennis is all about.
Our next home weekend is on Friday, February 27 & March 1, as we host the SEC opener vs. Mississippi State on Friday followed by a DH against Jackson State and Jacksonville State on Sunday. In between Oklahoma and the home weekend the Tide will be competing at the Blue-Grey National Tennis Classic in Montgomery. We'd love to have you join us at Lagoon Park in our state's capital for three exciting days of tennis action.
We'll keep working and believing. Until next time, Claim Oklahoma and... Roll Tide!
George
Players Mentioned
