Net News - March 4
3/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Happy March Everyone,
How quickly February came and went, even with a 29th day last month. The Tide are coming off a solid and fun weekend at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic where we won the title for the first time since 1989. The tournament tried a new format this year with 6 teams (vs. 8 last year) and a doubles point final. Alabama executed better and better with each ball struck and beat top-10 ranked Oklahoma State in the championship round. Funny to start and end the event with the Cowboys, but our finish was a momentum booster both physically and mentally.
A day before when we faced the tournament's top seed in the first round, the results were so tight. We dropped the doubles point 7-5 on the deciding court and were within points of sweeping four singles matches for the victory. The result we wanted, however, didn't happen, so we had to recover and recharge against a tough set of Tigers the following day. Princeton had defeated Auburn rather handily on day one of the BG and were confident they could take out another SEC school.
Former Crimson Tide coach Billy Pate had his squad ready to go and we were just as prepared. The doubles point began with a point for the IVY school on court #1 but finished with the energetic freshman Spencer Richey and sophomore Matt Rossouw converting point after point giving Bama a 1-0 lead.
We got off to a great start in singles winning first sets on five courts. The fans were tremendous as our housing brought passionate cheers and support as did our women's team, friends and families. While we pushed ourselves in front of the Tigers they would not relent and got some of their mojo back with a win on court #5. We continued to dig in and team captain Becker O'Shaughnessey was the first to finish with a straight set victory. Point Bama!
Sophomore Korey Lovett who a day earlier was within two games of beating a player ranked 435 ATP, continued his solid play and chalked up a third point for us. Point Bama! Mazen Osama, who had been hampered by a hip injury, traded hard ground strokes back and forth with his opponent and ultimately clinched the match with a 7-5, 7-5 victory. Match Bama!
Spencer and Matt were unfortunately left on court without a result for a second day in a row. While they were forced to abandon their matches with healthy leads, it was their tenacious style of play that provided confidence and positive energy to their teammates.
Onto the final where three, 8-game, doubles pro-sets would determine the Blue Gray champion. Oklahoma State would once again be on the other side of the net. Oddly enough the deciding match would again come down to court #1. The Cowboys claimed an 8-5 victory on court #2 over Becker and Grayson Goldin, while Spencer and Matt retaliated with an 8-5 win of their own. This completed an undefeated weekend for the Tennessee/South Africa combo and their sixth straight victory.
Mazen and Korey traded a couple of service breaks throughout their match giving one up late in the match and facing break points at 6-6. A massive, flat ace out wide at deuce ignited the crowd and put the Tide one step closer to victory. We won the first three points of the next game rather easily with Oklahoma State committing a couple of costly volley errors. At match point #2 our Egyptian freshman hit a forehand down the line which gave Alabama the title. Quality tennis and a super finish. Match Bama!
What an honor to "claim the cup" as the Blue Gray is such a special annual event for us. Hats off and Roll Tide to current and former tournament chairmen, Clay Torbert and Paul Winn, head officials Scott Dillon and Steve Laro, Lagoon Park Director of Tennis Geof Waring and his dedicated staff, the Blue Gray tournament committee, local sponsors and the plethora of volunteers who provided a memorable weekend for so many people both on and off the court.
Following our win, we celebrated with our housing hosts, friends and families and then happily departed Montgomery with momentum heading into the main event ... the SEC season.
We start on the road in Columbia, S.C. and Athens, Ga. looking to outwork, outcompete and outperform our opponents. Live scoring will be available at both places with live video at UGA. The SEC coaches' poll picked us to finish ninth, which is good locker room wallpaper and motivation. Each weekend from now through the conference championships will provide opportunities to improve and to become a stronger team. The SEC has plenty of talent, and we will work hard to prevail for hard work beats talent, when talent refuses to work hard.
We hope to see some of you on the road, and if not, then back in Tuscaloosa. Next weekend we host Tennessee on Friday, March 11 at 5 p.m. and Kentucky on Sunday, March 13 at 1 p.m.. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First up are the Gamecocks. Let's go Bama!
Roll Tide, George
