2015 Net News - April 16
4/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The Crimson Tide, along with the rest of the conference, have arrived in Aggieland for the SEC Championships hosted by Texas A&M. This tournament marks the beginning of the postseason and springboard to the NCAA Championships held in May. Alabama faces Tennessee in the 1st round which will feature four total dual matches. Other battles taking place include LSU vs. South Carolina, Florida vs. Kentucky and Vanderbilt vs. Auburn. You can find the tournament bracket by clicking here.
Prior to traveling over to the Lone Star State, Alabama two-stepped their way through Nashville with matches against Vanderbilt and Tennessee State. We got off to a hot start in doubles against the Commodores with each court taking over their opposition for the first half of their sets. Andrew Goodwin and Sam Edwards dispatched their opponents rather quickly while Korey Lovett and Becker O'Shaughnessey were crushing balls at the top spot and Stuart Kenyon and Sean Donohue had jumped ahead in their match. It looked as if the first point would come sooner rather than later, however, Vandy battled back at No. 1 to capture that match while Stuart and Sean transitioned into a tiebreaker. The moment at hand may have tested their nerves but it did not keep the Tide from staying focused and poised as they slugged their way to victory. Alabama 1, Vanderbilt 0.
The message to the team going into singles was to keep the momentum flowing but to be ready for a dog fight as Vandy had several come-from-behind victories this season including an upset win over Mississippi State two days prior to our match. Singles didn't start off well for everyone but it was early and the Tide battled. Nikko Madregallejo and Andrew Goodwin claimed first sets while their teammates were in tightly contested second set affairs. In the end, Vandy inched ahead and claimed the match. We fought, which this young team has done all year, and grew stronger from the effort. Gotta keep marching forward and believing in our abilities. Following this match, we headed over to Tennessee State and captured a pair of singles-only victories (doubles was not played due to the time of day).
After a full Monday and half of Tuesday off to attend to school, sports medicine treatment and laundry, Bama repacked its luggage and headed back out of town for the SECs. After landing at Houston Hobby we headed down the highway to College Station (about a 1 ½ hour drive). A critical food stop was made at Freebirds World Burrito which is a popular eating spot in Texas and a favorite of Stuart's. Once we pounded down the much needed food, we were on our way ... but not before Langford and Ryler received a water surprise pulling out of the parking lot.
The SEC tournament features several potential rounds of competition, however, we have our minds focused on one ... against the Volunteers. Last time out against Tennessee we didn't perform well, and in no way, shape or form was that performance reflective of our ability. I think it was just a rough weekend which can happen. The great thing now is that everyone's record is 0-0. It's the start of a new type of season. We have prepared ourselves well with plenty of competition ... 33 matches thus far ... and are ready to put forth a great performance. Match times have been moved because of Mother Nature's potential downpour in the afternoon. So we will play at 11 a.m. vs. the 3 p.m. original start time.
Yesterday's practice featured a couple great games of soccer tennis in between a pair of split workout sessions (singles in morning, doubles in afternoon). While we may not have the skills of famed superstar, Lionel Messi, soccer tennis provides another opportunity for us to compete which is something we love to do. I think Ryler has found his new calling but will stick to his day job. Live stats will be provided tomorrow for our out-of-towners, so click here to follow the Tide. For those of you in the College Station vicinity, come on over to the Mitchell Tennis Center -- a beautiful facility to watch and play a match.
Here's to good weather (which we had plenty of today) and plenty of great tennis ahead.
Roll Tide, George
Players Mentioned
