Net News - April 10
4/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Greetings from Starkville,
The Crimson Tide arrived in Mississippi for the second time in a week and our final road trip of the regular season. The sun shined bright on the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre here in Starkville as we got in a good warm-up that included some soccer, frisbee, four-square (a version of mini-tennis), drilling and point play. The match promises to be a battle like all the other SEC weekends have been, and we're fired up for the opportunity. That's the beauty and the beast of our conference. No let ups or let downs allowed because you'll pay the price. The Dogs are tough and we all know they will be barking come 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Last weekend included a home and away match, as well as a 4-3 score, one in our favor and one not. Let's start with the Razorbacks. We captured doubles point No. 16 when Korey Lovett and Mazen Osama won their fifth match in a row and took a slim 1-0 lead against a much-improved squad from Fayetteville. Rain was not in the forecast for Friday earlier in the week, but Mother Nature had different plans heading into singles. We got a couple of games in outside before we were forced to suspend all matches and let the rain pass through. After a little over an hour delay, we returned to action indoors which I felt put us at a slight disadvantage. We were used to playing at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Facility, but playing inside was common for Arkansas, and I wanted them to be more uncomfortable than comfortable with their surroundings. In the end, we just needed to take it to them regardless of where we played the match. We marched indoors with our heads held high, chest out and a belief that this Friday was ours. After sophomore Matthew Rossouw won yet another come-from-behind match to even the score at 2-2, we had three matches remaining, all in third sets.
Arkansas bumped ahead 3-2 after a win at No. 1 and so it came down to Korey and freshman Spencer Richey. Each guy fought as the intensity rose inside with fans on their feet, cheering point after point. A late break of serve on court 2 gave our visitors the edge and they handed us a tough 4-3 defeat, but not before Spencer got his W on court 5. 4-3 'Backs...rats.
We couldn't hang our heads but rather have a short memory and move on. We were off to Oxford the next day and needed an even bigger performance against the Rebels. I encouraged the team at our post match dinner to keep on believing as the greatest test of courage on earth was to bear defeat without losing heart.
After a long night's sleep for most of us, myself not included, and a trip out to Oxford, we were back at work again, a little tired, a little sore, but well aware of the path we were on. Ole Miss was coming off a big win over Mississippi State on Friday so their momentum would be rolling into our match. We had experienced some tough defeats this season but with each match came a new experience win or lose, and with each experience came growth, grit and a music video. Umm what? Turns out the guys perfectly orchestrated a lip sync performance of Justin Bieber's "Baby" while in the van. The video is on YouTube if you haven't seen it. Definitely worthy of a Grammy or Oscar.
A good crowd, but less than the 1,000+ that was on hand for the crawfish boil during their Friday match, welcomed us with open arms and cheers. Doubles was solid again as Matt/Spencer chalked up their 13th dual match win together and Mazen/Korey clinched things for the Tide on court 1. Point Bama!
A long way to the finish line awaited us and we knew it was not going to be a walk in the park. Senior Becker O'Shaughnessey didn't travel up with the team as he battled the flu bug but decided to play both doubles and singles. His quick straight set win gave us an extra boost as he pushed that momentum on over to court 1 where Mazen also chalked one up for the Tide in impressive fashion. After the Rebs put a pair of singles points on the board the home stretch of this race moved all the fans over to courts 5 & 6. I knew they could impact the match tremendously with their loud and passionate support, so it was up to Matt and Danny Kerznerman to see if they were going to allow this noise to impact their own 3-set battles.
Matt was up a break serving 4-3 while DK was level pegging with his opponent. After a short while, however, Matt was back on serve and the momentum returned to the Rebels. The South African Springbok would not relent, however, and took the next game which gave him another opportunity to close out the match. The drama continued to unfold, and while DK was fighting late in his third set, Matt found himself at deuce which meant match point/break point. Yikes! After he shrugged off a serve that I had called for him, he told me, "I got this" and ripped an ace for the Bama win. What a call and what a finish. The serve silenced the crowd except for the Bama players, staff and fans as we embraced Matt in the middle of his court. Match Bama!
What a weekend, and again, what resolve. We were very courageous with our effort and this team got a little better and confident over this set of SEC showdowns. Following the singing of Yeah Alabama! in the locker room led by Coach Goodwin, we jumped in our vehicles and enjoyed a well deserved meal at Second Line restaurant on the Square. Spencer's parents are partners in this tasty spot and boy did that food taste good...even better after a weekend like this one.
So the courage was there and continues to push us in the right direction. Last weekend it was Razorbacks and Rebels. Today it's Bulldogs. Whoever the opponent and whatever the task, there "ain't no mountain enough" for this team to climb. So take a Sunday stroll over to Starkville, 1 p.m. start with an afternoon serving up plenty of heart, commitment and courage for the Tide as we once again #strivetogether.
Roll Tide, George
