Net News - April 1
4/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Happy April Everyone,
March came and went in a hurry, and we quickly find ourselves in the final third of the regular season. Just four SEC matches remain before the conference championships are held at the University of South Carolina later this month. First up are the Arkansas Razorbacks, who come to Tuscaloosa with a much improved team and a top-15 national team ranking. First serve against the Hogs is set for 5 p.m. on Friday, April 1 ... no fooling. We'll celebrate Kids' Day and provide several fun things for boys and girls ages 12 and under including free pizza, a bounce house, gift bags for the first 40 kids, a facility tour, Big Al, and of course, great tennis action. The Tide will then travel to Oxford on Saturday and face the Rebels of Ole Miss on Sunday, April 3 at 1 p.m., which promises to be a tight afternoon affair. Both matches will have live scoring, while Ole Miss will also provide live video.
Back to the competition on Easter weekend, which did not fall short of exciting and entertaining. The (tennis) Iron Bowl was contested with Auburn bringing a talented group of Tigers to Tuscaloosa last Friday night. We had a great crowd, who filled the stands and enjoyed their tasty BBQ served up by Crimson Racket Club board members and volunteers. The fans also got a chance to see Alabama men's basketball coach Avery Johnson hit our honorary first serve to sophomore Korey Lovett and then finish off the point with a volley winner. Would you expect anything else from our charismatic coach? Prior to displaying his on-court skills that did not include dribbling or dishing out assists, Coach Avery urged our guys to take in the moment, work hard to push our team from good to great and enjoy every minute spent in the process for it was a one-of-a-kind experience. Great teams received contributions from everyone, starters and reserves, and it was an 'all-in' mindset.
So we #buckledup and got after it against Auburn. Doubles was tough and the visiting Tigers clawed their way to simultaneous match points on courts 1 and 3 after Becker O'Shaughnessey and Grayson Goldin secured an Alabama victory on court 2. The beauty of these match points was that they also were break points for us and a chance to even things up in our respective sets. Freshman Spencer Richey and sophomore Matthew Rossouw did their job at No. 3 while Korey and Mazen Osama did the same at No. 1. After Mazen hit an overhead off an overhead to even things in his set, the crowd erupted and the momentum swung back to Bama. Spencer and Matthew would close the deal and give us a boost heading into singles. Point Bama!
It was a beautiful night with temps in the 70s, which kept the crowd around even after the BBQ had ended. Matthew was first off as he handed his Auburn opponent a straight set defeat. Mazen had his groove on court 1 and tamed his Tiger as well. After dropping his first set, Korey reversed the tables and delivered some big shots en route to an impressive three-set win over this year's Southern Regional singles champion, Max Hinnisdaels, and secured our team victory. Our rivals then captured a trio of three-set battles to end the evening and bring the final tally to Bama 4, Auburn 3. Match Bama! What a thrilling night with the Tuscaloosa community out in full force to support the home team. Many thanks to the CRC board for helping make this match memorable and tasty.
Easter Sunday brought a few things to town. First up was the last of what seemed to be a week of never-ending egg hunts at my house. My kids were up early and ready to search for their treasures though we had to move things indoors due to a morning rain shower. It also brought another yummy pre-match brunch at the Capstone Hotel prior to our 1 p.m. showdown. And finally, it brought a tough group of Gators, who were on a hot streak after their Friday night win at Mississippi State and looking to gobble up another victory. Mother Nature kept us indoors for this affair and we had a nice group of fans who spent their Easter Sunday courtside with the Crimson Tide.
Doubles was intense, and again, very exciting. After dropping our match at No. 2, it was the tandems of Lovett/Osama and Richey/Rossouw that pushed our season's doubles point record to 15-5. Mazen and Korey were first to deliver over the nation's No. 1-ranked team of Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson. Florida was up a break early and held rather easily until we evened things up at 4-4. The match remained on serve until the Tide earned a huge break to pull in front 6-5 and Korey served out the match. Now all eyes shifted to court No. 3 where Spencer and Matthew were in a tiebreaker. We went down early 4-1 but rallied to even things up at 4-4. From there, it was back and forth before we snagged match point. The slow clap began and the energy was rockin the indoor facility. Following Spencer's bullet of a return which produced a Gator volley error, Alabama jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Point Bama!
Singles began and Florida was ready. The scores were close, but we managed to capture just one first set on the six courts. Second sets began and we found ourselves in a dog fight, or rather a gator fight, with several matches going three sets to determine the day's winner. Becker, Korey and Matt battled until the bitter end which resulted in just one victory, a gutsy win for Matthew his vocal Florida grinder. Overall, the Gators were the best team, top to bottom, that we faced all season and simply more solid. We made too many errors which hurt our execution. So the lesson of the day was, "get better".
We've had a good week of practice that has focused extensively on rest, sharpening up individual skills, competing and being fresh for this weekend's competition. We are ready to continue our climb with Razorbacks and Rebels standing in our way. As Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell once sang, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which will be our mantra moving forward, or should I say, upward. See you on Friday and as always ...
Roll Tide!
George
