Alabama Men's Tennis Announces 2015-16 Schedule
7/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama men's tennis team announced its 2015-16 schedule on Thursday, a slate featuring eight fall tournaments including an eleven-team event at the Country Club of Birmingham, November 13-15. The Tide will host seven of its first nine spring matches, and will play a total of eleven matches over a three week period heading into the conference season. The University of South Carolina will host the 2016 SEC Championships, while the 2016 NCAA Championships will be played at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Alabama kicks off its competitive and diverse fall season with the Four-In-The-Fall team event, welcoming Notre Dame, South Florida and Columbia to Tuscaloosa. The Tide will then transition to several individual tournaments, highlighted by the USTA/ITA Regional Championships, the Tide's second home event of the fall scheduled for October 15-19. Alabama will play its next three events on clay courts, traveling to tournaments in Birmingham, Ala., Orlando, Fla. and Flushing, N.Y. The fall schedule concludes with the CCB Collegiate Invitation, an 11-team tournament scheduled to be played at the Country Club of Birmingham, November 13-15.
The Crimson Tide opens the spring season with a pair of home doubleheaders vs. Virginia Tech and Georgia State on January 16, followed by UAB and Samford on January 18. The Tide will host seven of its first nine spring matches, including a showdown vs. NCAA runner-up, Oklahoma on February 5. Alabama's three early-season road trips will see the team travel to Jacksonville, Fla., Tallahassee, Fla., and Ann, Arbor, Mich., before concluding the first half of the spring slate at the annual Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala., February 26-27.
"The goal of the first half of the spring season is to make sure all of our players are put into situations not only to compete, but face some pressure," said head coach George Husack. "Our schedule includes tough doubleheaders and ranked opposition, including 2015 NCAA runner-up Oklahoma at home in early-February. We have eleven matches over a three week period which will give us a good understanding of how we want our lineup to take form as we move into the SEC season."
Alabama kicks off the conference schedule with a pair of road matches vs. South Carolina and Georgia in early-March, before returning to Tuscaloosa to face Tennessee (March 11) and Kentucky (March 13). The Tide will play three consecutive home matches beginning with the team's match vs. rival Auburn on Friday, March 25. The Tide will then travel to Ole Miss and Mississippi State, before returning to Tuscaloosa to close out the regular season schedule vs. Vanderbilt on Sunday, April 17.
"The SEC season is always exciting and demanding," added Husack. "The rivalries, road travel and tough competition from top to bottom can take its toll, but it also creates motivation and grit. Our young program has matured and gained valuable experience over the past few years, and I'm confident that we will be prepared to thrive in this environment come next spring."
The Southeastern Conference Tournament will be held in Columbia, South Carolina from April 21-24, ahead of the NCAA first and second rounds at a to-be-determined site, May 14-15. The NCAA Team Championships will be played in Tulsa, Oklahoma from May 19-30.
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