Alabama
NCAA
No. 11 Mazen Osama and Patrick Kaukovalta Become First Alabama Pair to Advance to Quarterfinals of NCAA Doubles Championships Since 1991; Earn All-America Honors
5/22/2019 10:10:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Osama/Kaukovalta defeated No. 13 Blumberg/Boyden of UNC, 7-5, 6-2
ORLANDO, Fla. – For the first time since 1991 the Alabama men's tennis team is sending a doubles pair to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships after senior Mazen Osama and sophomore Patrick Kaukovalta cruised past No. 13 William Blumberg and Bo Boyden of UNC on Wednesday night, 7-5, 6-2 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. The No. 11 pair in the country will move on to play No. 35 Marius Frosa and Murkel Dellien of Wichita State on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT.
With the two wins in the tournament, Osama and Kaukovalta earned All-America honors. This is Osama's second Doubles All-America honor after earning the same feat back in 2016. Osama is only fourth player in program history to have both singles and doubles All-America honors, after he was named a Singles All-American in 2018.
In seven seasons under head coach George Husack, he has sent seven doubles pairings to the NCAA Doubles Championships, including four that have earned All-America honors.
"They served well, returned well and moved well at the net," Husack stated. "Those are three good ingredients for a solid doubles performance. They have another great opportunity tomorrow."
In the first set, the duo went up 4-3 before UNC battled back to make it 5-5. Alabama held serve to go up 6-5 and trailed 40-15, before rattling off three straight points to take the first set, 7-5. Osama and Kaukovalta took control early on in the second set by going up 2-0 before pushing their advantage to 4-1. After Blumberg/Boyden made it 4-2, the Alabama duo closed it out 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Yesterday, Osama and Kaukovalta picked up their first-career NCAA Doubles Tournament victories after defeating No. 17 Kellovsky/Ponwith of Arizona State in straight sets in the first round.
The match between Osama/Kaukovalta and Frosa/Dellien will be aired live on the Tennis Channel. The broadcast will rotate coverage between the six simultaneous matches going on during the night.
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