Alabama
Mercer
Men's Tennis Splits Sunday Doubleheader
3/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The 60th-ranked men's tennis team splits its doubleheader on Sunday, falling 4-1 to No. 7 Texas A&M before topping Mercer, 5-1, at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility. The Crimson Tide now stands at 13-12 overall and 2-5 against Southeastern Conference opponents.
In the first match of the day, the Aggies' AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech secured a 6-2 victory over the Tide's Sam Edwards and Nikko Madregallejo for the first win of the day. The remaining two matches on court went back and forth and came down to the wire. The matchup on court two was on serve until Texas A&M's 26th-ranked duo of Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo broke Sean Donohue and Stuart Kenyon for the 5-3 lead. The Aggie tandem would serve for the win, which they would get in the next game, giving Texas A&M the 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Madregallejo earned the lone point for the Tide against the Aggies, beating 48th-ranked Harrison Adams, 6-3, 6-2, on court three to even the match at 1-1. From there, Texas A&M would pick up three straight wins to take the team victory, beginning with court two where No. 65 Efferding posted a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Becker O'Shaughnessey. No. 89 Catanzariti then made it a 3-1 match as he won over Kenyon on court five, 6-2, 6-2. The Aggies' 71st-ranked singles player in Shane Vinsant would then clinch the win, topping Korey Lovett on court one, 7-6(6), 6-3.
Alabama came up just shy in doubles in the second match, falling on courts one and two to Mercer after the Tide's Andrew Goodwin and Hayes Brewer posted a 7-5 victory on court three. The Bears answered next with a 7-5 win of their own at the No. 2 spot before the matchup on court one headed into a tiebreaker. Mercer got off to a 4-0 start , but Alabama's Lovett and O'Shaughnessey battled back to pull within one. The Bears' Arnav and Arsav Mohanty went on to win three of the next four points to take the match, 7-6(4).
Danny Kerznerman made quick work of Mercer's Sam Philp on court three, winning 6-2, 6-0, to tie the overall match score at 1-1. Madregallejo then won his second singles match of the day, this time beating Oliver Snaider on court two, 6-2, 6-0, to give the Tide a 2-1 edge. Kenyon's 6-0, 6-4 victory on court four made it a 3-1 lead for the Tide before Edwards provided the clinching win on court five, 6-3, 6-3. Alabama then added an additional point when Goodwin claimed a 6-1, 3-6, 10-7 victory at the No. 6 spot. The match on court one between Lovett and Arnav Mohanty would go unfinished.
Next up, the Tide hits the road next weekend for a pair of SEC matchups at Tennessee and Kentucky. Friday's match against the Volunteers is slated for a 1 p.m. CT start, while Sunday's match in Lexington versus the Wildcats will begin at Noon CT.
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Players Mentioned
