Alabama Drops Hard-Fought Battle to Dartmouth, 4-3

Friday, January 24

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6 p.m. CT

Alabama

Dartmouth

Alabama Drops Hard-Fought Battle to Dartmouth, 4-3

1/24/2020 9:28:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery Results (PDF)

The Crimson Tide’s comeback fell short after trailing 3-0

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After trailing 3-0, the Alabama men's tennis team attempt at a comeback came up just short as the Dartmouth Big Green (2-0) handed the Crimson Tide (4-1) its first loss of the 2020 season on Friday night inside of the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility.

From Coach Husack

"I didn't think we executed very well on our returns in doubles," said head coach George Husack. "I thought we did well overall in serves, but it just really boiled down to execution in doubles and the doubles point is pretty vital. In singles, we had a couple of tough matchups at the top and they (Dartmouth) definitely demonstrated that they were better than us today. It's something that we can learn from and I thought we did a good job of adjusting in our matches."

Doubles

The Big Green gained momentum by winning the doubles point, first on court one No. 28 Broom/Horneffer defeated senior Edson Ortiz and junior Patrick Kaukovalta, 6-3, while Conklin/Ross battled past senior Alexey Nesterov and junior Riccardo Roberto, 6-4 to gain the 1-0 advantage.

Singles

Dartmouth continued to put on the pressure after winning on courts one and two, to take the 3-0 lead. The Crimson Tide fought back as senior Zhe Zhou got UA on the board with his 7-5, 6-1 victory over Dan Martin. Junior Jeremy Gschwendtner cut into the deficit after he bested John Speicher on court six, 6-4, 6-3.
Later on, the Big Green clinched the match on court four when Peter Conklin edged Nesterov, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to make the match 4-2. Moments later, Kaukovalta finished his come-from-behind victory by winning 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, to end the match at 4-3.

Up Next

The Crimson Tide will continue play this weekend with a matchup against Virginia Tech on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 12 p.m. inside the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility. Fans can follow along with a live stream and live stats provided on RollTide.com.

Alabama Results

Doubles

No. 28 Broom/Horneffer def. Ortiz/Kaukovalta, 6-3
Conklin/Ross def. No. 40 Nesterov/Zhou, 6-4
Zhou/Sepulveda Garza vs. Martin/Widdecombe, 5-4, unfinished

Order of Finish: 1, 2

Singles

No. 28 Charlie Broom def. Edson Ortiz, 6-4, 6-4
Dan Martin def. No. 96 Riccardo Roberto, 6-2, 6-3
Zhe Zhou def. David Horneffer, 7-5, 6-1
Peter Conklin def. Alexey Nesterov, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Patrick Kaukovalta def. Alejandro Quiles, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
Jeremy Gscwendtner def. John Speicher, 6-4, 6-3

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3, 6, 4, 5

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