Alabama
Auburn
Alabama Men's Tennis Knocks off Auburn, 4-3
3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Alabama men's tennis team won its eighth match of the season at home and 13th overall with a 4-3 victory over Auburn Friday at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The Crimson Tide now stands at 13-8 overall and 4-3 in Southeastern Conference matches, while the loss dropped the Tigers to 9-8 on the season and 1-5 against league opponents.
"It means a lot to win an in-state rivalry," said Alabama head coach George Husack. "They (Auburn) are always tough. You can throw out all the records and rankings. It doesn't matter."
Alabama came up big in doubles to take a 1-0 lead over Auburn. On court two, senior Becker O'Shaughnessey and sophomore Grayson Goldin got off to a hot start, leading Auburn freshman Brandon Laubser and redshirt freshman Olle Thestrup, 3-0. The Tiger duo came back to even the match at 3-3, but the Tide would win the next three straight to take the 6-3 victory. Shortly after that match had finished, UA fought off simultaneous match points on courts one and three to keep both alive, 5-5, bringing the Alabama fans to their feet atop the courts. Tide sophomore Matthew Rossouw and freshman Spencer Richey played a solid set of games to win their match on court three over juniors Conner Huertas and Dante Saleh, 7-5, awarding UA the point.
Alabama carried momentum over into singles, capturing four of the first six sets. Rossouw, playing on court six, dominated his first set before finding himself in a close second that remained on serve in the first four games. From there, the Tide sophomore pulled ahead, winning the final four games for the 6-1, 6-2 decision over Thestrup. Freshman Mazen Osama then recorded a dominant 6-2, 6-3 victory at the top spot over senior Marko Krickovic to give Alabama a 3-0 advantage.
The fourth point wouldn't come for quite some time as the remaining four matches on court went back and forth and all finished in three sets. Auburn picked up its first point of the night with a win on court five as Laubser came back to beat Goldin, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, seconds before sophomore Korey Lovett secured the clinching point for the Tide on court two. The Alabama sophomore fell in his first set to junior Maxime Hinnisdaels, 6-3, but played a dominant second set to win 6-1. Lovett came out swinging again in the third and earned a pivotal break to take a 3-2 lead, which he would hold on to for the duration of the set to win 6-4.
The Tigers were able to claim the last two wins on courts three and four, setting the final match score at 4-3.
"You look at the scoreboard tonight, and we've got four three-set matches," added Husack. "Doubles was tooth and nail. We just got by there. That's the beauty of it. Every match means a lot, but it's a little extra special tonight with Auburn."
Alabama will play its second home match of the weekend on Sunday when it hosts No. 16 Florida at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. CT.
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