Alabama
University of Georgia
Alabama Men’s Tennis Travels to Face Georgia in Lone Contest of the Weekend
3/23/2017 10:47:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The Crimson Tide will meet the No. 14 Bulldogs on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's tennis team will travel to Athens, Ga., to take on the 14th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT in its lone contest of the weekend.
Last Time Out:
The Crimson Tide (8-11, 1-5 SEC) won two of its three contests last weekend, as it dropped a 4-0 decision to Texas A&M on Friday, before defeating LSU, 6-1, and Troy in a 4-1 decision on Sunday afternoon.
Alabama Notes:
The Tide had two singles players and one doubles pair earn national rankings announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Tuesday.
Sophomore standout Mazen Osama moved up six spots to earn a No. 35 national ranking in singles play, marking his fifth week in the rankings since beginning the dual match season. Osama has a 9-6 record in singles play since starting the spring season, and has six registered wins over nationally-ranked opponents this year. Last weekend, he topped LSU's then-No. 44 ranked singles player Jordan Daigle in a three-set thriller, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Freshman Thibault Cancel earned a No. 105 national ranking in singles after collecting nine wins in the dual match season. Cancel has been nationally-ranked four times since the start of the spring season, and he has registered four wins over nationally ranked singles opponents. Last weekend, Cancel outlasted LSU's then-No. 43 ranked singles player Justin Butsch in a match that was decided in three sets, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
The Tide has 41 singles wins in dual match play and it has 21 victories in doubles since the start of the spring season. Freshman Edson Ortiz leads the team with the most singles wins since beginning dual match play with a 10-7 mark. Ortiz is 4-5, 1-1, and 5-1 from the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions, respectively.
Georgia Notes:
Georgia currently has a 9-6 overall record and an undefeated 5-0 mark in league play. The Bulldogs will take on LSU on Thursday, March 23, in a match that is set to broadcast on ESPN3 before arriving to Tuscaloosa for Saturday's contest. Last weekend, Georgia defeated Wake Forest on Friday, 4-3, before outlasting Tennessee in a 4-3 decision on Sunday.
The Bulldogs have two singles players and two doubles teams that are nationally ranked. Wayne Montgomery and Emil Reinberg are ranked No. 32 and No. 65 in singles, respectively. In doubles play, Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb are ranked No. 8, while Reinberg and Nathan Ponwith are ranked No. 48 in the nation.
Series History:
When Alabama and Georgia face each other on Saturday it will mark the 64th time the two programs have met, dating back to the 1951 season. The Bulldogs hold a 55-8 advantage in the series. Last year, Georgia defeated Alabama in a 6-1 result. The last time the Tide topped the Bulldogs was during the 2003 season, when Alabama won a 5-2 decision over Georgia.
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