Alabama Men’s Tennis Hands Out Individual Awards at Annual Team Banquet
5/9/2017 10:20:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The Crimson Tide celebrated the conclusion of the 2017 regular season with annual team banquet
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's tennis team celebrated the conclusion of the 2017 regular season with its annual team awards banquet. The Crimson Tide's head coach George Husack handed out three major awards to sophomore Mazen Osama and freshmen Thibault Cancel and Zhe Zhou.
Osama was voted Most Valuable Player by his teammates for the second straight year. He is currently ranked No. 10 in doubles and No. 29 in singles. Osama achieved a season-high No. 26 national ranking in singles on April 8, while recording a season-high No. 10 national ranking in doubles on May 4. He has collected eight wins over nationally ranked singles opponents this year, while compiling five victories over nationally ranked doubles teams. Osama has been featured in every set of rankings since the beginning of the dual match season. Last week, Osama was named First Team All-SEC for men's tennis.
Cancel earned this year's Tenacity Award, which is awarded to the hardest worker day in and day out. He logged numerous hours on the court throughout the year, which led to him earning Second Team All-SEC and All-Freshman honors. Cancel is currently ranked No. 121 in the nation in singles, and his season-high ranking in singles was No. 78 on Jan. 4. He registered three wins over nationally ranked singles opponents this year, and he has been nationally ranked nine times since the start of the spring season.
Zhou was named this year's Most Improved player, as the talented freshman won 10 of his final 12 singles matches. Moreover, he finished the season on a four-match win streak. Zhou played the majority of his singles matches from the No. 5 and No. 6 positions where tallied five victories and three wins, respectively.
The Alabama men's tennis team will be represented in the NCAA singles and doubles championships for the sixth straight season, led by Osama and sophomore Spencer Richey. All matches will take place at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., from May 24-29.
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Players Mentioned
