Alabama
Georgia State
Alabama Splits Season-Opening Doubleheader on Saturday
1/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The 65th-ranked Alabama men's tennis team opened the season with a doubleheader on Saturday where it went 1-1 at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility with a 5-2 loss to No. 16 Virginia Tech and a 6-1 win over Georgia State.
"I'm really happy how the guys came out today," said Alabama head coach George Husack. "There is a lot of excitement brewing for the start of the season. Although we lost the match, I thought we played well against Virginia Tech. They are a veteran team with five seniors in the starting lineup. Overall, I'm really proud of their effort today."
Both of Crimson Tide's points against the Hokies would come in singles as Virginia Tech took a 1-0 lead following doubles with wins on court one and three. Hokie junior Jai Corbett and freshman Mitch Harper picked up the first victory coming on court three over Alabama sophomore Matthew Rossouw and freshman Spencer Richey, 6-3. The point was clinched on court one where Virginia Tech's 21st-ranked duo of seniors Andreas Bjerrehus and Joao Montiero beat sophomore Korey Lovett and freshman Mazen Osama, 6-4. The matchup on court two was tied at 5-5 when play was called.
Despite being edged out for the doubles point, Alabama came out blazing in singles and eventually won three of the first six sets on courts two, three and six. Virginia Tech, however, would end up winning four matches to claim the team victory. The Hokies second point of the match came with a win on court four as Bjerrehus topped sophomore Grayson Goldin, 6-0, 6-2. The next three matches all finished within moments of each other, beginning with court one where Virginia Tech's Montiero, ranked 14th nationally, posted a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 106 Lovett. Senior Becker O'Shaughnessey, ranked 123rd, then got the Tide on the board with a 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 46 senior Edoardo Tessaro. Hokie senior Aaron Gomez then clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Alabama sophomore Nikki Madregallejo on court five.
The remaining two matches would be played out, which gave the Tide an opportunity to pick up another point as sophomore Danny Kerznerman put one on the board. Osama, ranked 66th, had the closest battle of the match and was edged out in a third-set tiebreaker against Virginia Tech senior Amerigo Contini, 3-6, 7-6(1), 10-6.
In match two of the day, it would be Alabama taking the 1-0 lead following doubles as the Tide took matches on courts one and three after Georgia State won the matchup on court two by a 6-3 decision. Richey and Rossouw got off to a hot start and carried that through to a 6-2 victory over Panther junior Felipe Jaworski and freshman Jack MacFarlane on court three. Lovett and Osama came on strong down the stretch on court one to take their match, 6-3, over sophomores Andrei Andrukhou and Sebastian Acuna to clinch the point.
Alabama carried the momentum into singles where it won five of the six first sets and then claimed its first three points in less than a minute of each other to secure the team victory. First to finish was the matchup on court four where Goldin collected a 6-4, 6-0 win over MacFarlane. Next was Kerznerman on court five, posting a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Jaworski. Richey, playing in his first singles contest of the dual match season, clinched the W for the Tide on court five as he defeated Panther freshman Giles Hussey, 6-2, 6-2.
As in the earlier match with Virginia Tech, the remaining singles would be played out. Alabama picked up two additional points with Osama topping Andrukhou, 6-2, 7-5, on court two, and O'Shaughnessey outlasting Acuna, 6-1, 3-6, 10-7, on court three.
"Becker, our senior captain, played tremendous today," added Husack. "It's great to see him playing freely and leading this team."
The Tide will host its second doubleheader on Monday when it welcomes UAB and Samford to the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility. Matches will be played at 1 p.m. CT and 5 p.m. CT, respectively.
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