Net News - Jan. 24
1/24/2020 1:23:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Hello Tuscaloosa Tennis Community,
After a full slate of matches last weekend, followed by a day off on Tuesday, it has been a short practice week and we're back in action again this Friday and Sunday at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility.  It's a unique lineup of competition on both days as we have three visiting teams in town – LSU, Dartmouth and Virginia Tech. While we won't square off against the Tigers from the SEC (see below details), we will stand on opposite sides of the net from the Big Green (Dartmouth) and the Hokies (Virginia Tech). Here's the schedule:
- Friday at 1pm – LSU vs. Virginia Tech & at 6pm – ALABAMA vs. Dartmouth…UA Capstone International Center & UA Honors College Night…FREE Moe's burritos for the first 150 fans
- Sunday at 9am – LSU vs. Dartmouth and at 12pm – ALABAMA vs. Virginia Tech…UA Culverhouse College of Business Day
Dartmouth returns all of its starters from a season ago in which they were ranked inside the Top-30 (no. 28 team ranking high) and are led by senior Charlie Broom who sits at no. 52 in the current singles rankings. The Big Green has a new coaching staff in head coach Xander Centenari and assisted by Jeff Wilson. This won't be Xander's first time coaching against the Tide as he was an assistant last season at University of South Florida who we faced in the NCAA team championships. The Big Green prides itself on their team culture, chemistry and upper classmen leadership. They will "bring it."
We will welcome a couple of on-campus groups for Friday night's match in both the Capstone International Center and the Honors College. Each play a significant role with our team as we have six international countries represented on our roster and three players (Sam Fischer, Avi Shugar, Grant Stuckey) that are currently part of UA's Honors College program.   We look forward to hosting them as well as many more fans that will have the opportunity to treated to FREE Moe's Southwest Grill burritos. Vamos Tide!
On Sunday, Virginia Tech, short for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, will battle us again decked out in their maroon and burnt orange uniforms. The Hokies (what is Hokie? More to follow) are led by Jim Thompson who is in his 22nd year at Va Tech and 32nd overall. One little known fact about Jim is that he kicked off his stellar coaching career in 1988 as the assistant women's coach at none other than Alabama. Super guy and great coach who you can't say enough good things about. His squad, like Dartmouth, also returns all their starters and are led by three seniors including Mitch Harper who battled our Mazen Osama on court 1 a couple of seasons ago. And now to the definition of a Hokie. Some sources state that "hokie" was a colloquial name for a turkey, otherwise known as a "hokie-bird". Other sources dispute that, as former Virginia Tech cadet OM Stull claimed, there was no real meaning behind the word — he just thought it sounded good in a cheer that he created and it stuck. Okie dokie Hokie.
The Culverhouse College of Business will join us for Sunday's main event at 12pm (we usually have all afternoon matches at 1pm). We have several friends and fans within Culverhouse that have supported Alabama Tennis over the years and we're excited to see them again. One person in particular is management professor and our honorary server, David Ford. David has been involved in our Crimson Racket Club as the President and/or Treasurer for the last 23 years and has also been our CGO, Chief Grilling Officer, serving tasty food to thousands of fans at our CRC cookouts. David, along with his colleagues, experienced their inaugural Culverhouse/Bama Tennis Day two seasons ago, and ironically, it was against the Hokies. So we hope for a similar fun experience and result. Roll Culverhouse Roll!
We will continue to have different groups join us throughout the season but also welcome any interested newcomers to bring a group of your own to a tennis match. With free admission, up close action and plenty of space to host a group outing at both our indoor and outdoor facilities, we can create a unique personal experience for your group and we'd love to start a new tradition with you. Simply email me at ghusack@ia.ua.edu we will get it planned and scheduled on the calendar.Â
Last weekend was a solid start to 2020. Day 1 against UAB and UT-Chattanooga had some opening day jitters, but after the nerves settled, the guys did their thing and competed. There was significant improvement on Monday with Samford and North Alabama in town as the execution rate in both doubles and singles was much higher and noticeable. We did our best and made our opponents uncomfortable, built points in our favor, created capitalizing opportunities and attacked and finished well. First serve percentages were higher, and more significantly, were the points won because of our first serve-first strike plays. The same could be said with our return games where we took advantage of second serves and set up points in our favor. Our two freshmen, Marcelo Sepulveda Garza and Avi Shugar, earned their first college dual match victories, and our returning group of elder statesmen also registered victories to kick off their seasons. Four matches down, many more to go.Â
So we look ahead to the weekend and the opportunity to compete with more improvement. As a wise coach once told me, "if you lose, you need to get better, and if you win, you need to get better." That's the name of the game…get better and keep seeking opportunities to get better. #ThatsBama
Roll Tide,
George
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