Net News - March 8
3/8/2019 11:11:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Greetings from "My Old Kentucky Home",
We are on the road for our first SEC road trip with a pair of conference barnburners at Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Â Lexington looks more like Minneapolis with the amount of snow we've seen fall overnight. Â As a result, tonight's battle with the Cats will be indoors at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center. Â The weather doesn't really get much better on our way to Nashville as plenty of rain is forecasted for Saturday which means we won't get to prepare too well for our outdoor match with the Commodores on Sunday. Â We will control what we can control, however, and as a famous country group from Fort Payne once sang, "Hey, how 'bout ya Alabama, roll on."Â
Last weekend at home was quite the conference kickoff. Â LSU and Texas A&M were formidable opponents that gave us a strong introduction to what our SEC season would entail. Â The Tigers came in from Baton Rouge with a noteworthy reversal of fortune from a year ago. Â Four fresh faces were in the starting lineup and the team had a determined look to keep their successful year continuing. Â The lights outside shined brightly on the courts for our first Friday night bout while the music echoed throughout the facility. Â We had a good crowd on hand despite the plethora of events being offered on campus over the weekend that included gymnastics, softball, rowing and men's basketball. Â Our team had prepared well with several night practices during the week and we were excited to play at home again after a four-week absence.
Doubles started off slow as we went down early service breaks on courts #1 and #3 while court #2 stayed even.  It definitely was much slower than the pace we grew accustom to indoors, but the plan remained the same - make first serves, keep returns over the net and low, look for opportunities to poach, and finally…be aggressive, be, be aggressive.  The Tigers kept their foot on the pedal on #3 and captured the match rather easily, while Thibault and Alexey broke serve midway through their set, and evened up the score.  Patrick and Mazen rebounded and relied back from an 0-3 deficit and won six out of the next seven games to push the Tide in front 1–0.  Point Bama! Roll Tide! Â
The coaches knew that doubles point was vital…I guess you can say they all are.  LSU had a very good singles lineup so we needed a good start across all courts.  We jumped out to big leads in many matches and captured five of six first sets.  I had a brief check-in with Lalo and Robbie on their courts and told them this match was far from over.  Some of our players glanced at the scoreboard as second sets began and appeared almost disillusioned from the quick leads. As points played on, the momentum shifted as expected and the Tigers clawed their way back into the match.  Mazen, however, did not relent and made a strong statement in his straight set victory over a gritty opponent that he had lost to in Baton Rouge las Spring.  With the score at 2-0, Edson refocused and rallied back from a 2-5 hole in the second set and won five straight games with great vengeance extending the lead to 3-0.  Two courts down from him was our bandana-wearing Riccardo, who displayed great excitement in his match with a flurry of fist pumps and yells to go along with his effective serves, returns, groundstrokes and transition game.  Ricky benefitted from a match point double fault that clinched the match and a gave our Italian sophomore his seventh consecutive win.  Alexey and Zhe finished played out their matches after the clinch which led to a final score of 5-2.  Match Bama! Roll Tide!
Sunday brought some of Mother Nature's best in terms of storms and a deadly tornado in the eastern part of Alabama.  In Lee County, twenty-three people fell victim to a twister which represented more tornado deaths in one day than had occurred nationwide in the past two years.  A tragedy that took place shortly after we started our singles with Texas A&M.  An eery feeling to discover after our match and realize that while we did all we could to successfully strike tennis balls against the Aggies, thousands of people on the other side of the state sought shelter and safety in order to save their lives.  A sad day indeed for many and our thoughts, prayers and well wishes extend to Lee County while citizens there mourn, recover and rebuild.
Back at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility, A&M proved more consistent and aggressive in doubles and jumped out to a 1-0 lead.  We appeared a little edgy and off so the break between doubles and singles was much needed to regroup and refocus.  The Aggies had enjoyed many years of success since joining the SEC including a semifinal run at the NCAAs a year ago (where they lost to eventual champion Wake Forest, 4-3).  While several starters had graduated from that squad they filled in the holes with a talented group of freshmen and returned four starters to their singles lineup.  One of those returners added a quick victory on court #3 to push the Aggie lead to 2-0.  We responded well with sophomore Jeremy Gschwendtner scoring an impressive victory on court #6 and Mazen continued his stellar play with a win that evened the score 2-2.
A&M pushed ahead again with a 3-set win on court #4 with two matches left that determined the outcome.  We had an early edge as Edson and Riccardo were up service breaks in their third sets respectively.  The home stretch was a long one, however, and the Aggies were not going to simply hand over the victory.  The full house of Bama fans cheered on as Ricky struck first on court #5 and evened the score 3-3.  Forza Bama!  Edson, El Toro, was the last man standing like a fighter in a bull ring.  These were moments that he lived for and had experienced several times in his college career.
The match between Edson and his opponent, Hady Habib, proved to be a display of physical, mental and emotional quality. Edson jumped ahead 4-1, only to have Habib win four straight games and serve for the match.  Edson retaliated with a service break at 4-5 and service hold to go up 6-5.  The atmosphere was electric as both teams stood along the court and cheered on their teammate.  The home crowd joined in for three slow claps at 6-5, 15-40, but Habib was not rattled.  He reeled off an ace and two huge serves that lead to a short ball winner and forced error.  Too good.  Onward to the breaker and Edson jumped ahead 2-0.  Once again, Habib was not shaken and elevated his game winning seven straight points.  Too good.  A tremendous effort by both players and their teams which added to the thrill of college tennis and a close to the weekend's home action.  I applauded the team's performance and said if that's what it took to beat us, then so be it.  We gave our best and could leave knowing we were a very good team with many more opportunities on the horizon.
That brings us to this weekend and back to the state that has produced thoroughbred champions over the years and crowned winners at the famed Kentucky Derby. Â The Wildcats are tough and will host us indoors on four courts. Â Not something we're used to but certainly something we can do nothing about. Â We all know what UK wants after we defeated them at last Spring's SEC Championships and welcome the challenge. Â We then head southwest to Nashville, the city of honky tonks, country music and Commodores. Â Vandy will present another tough match as they always do. Â A very well coached team, the Commodores are coming off a big 4-1 road victory at Ole Miss. Â As you can see, there are no layups or slam dunks in this portion of the season. Â It's all about who can keep building, capitalizing, attacking and finishing week after week.
Next week is Spring Break so we will be off school but face the state of Mississippi with a rare Thursday match at Hail State and then return home on Saturday against the Rebels. Â First, however, join us online this weekend with live stats and twitter updates. Â If you're doing a "staycation" next week join us in Starkville or see us at home against Ole Miss. Â We appreciate your continued support as it is invaluable and a ton of fun regardless of what the scoreboard reads. Â That's Tuscaloosa and #ThatsBama.
Roll Tide,
George
