Net News - Jan. 31
1/31/2020 1:37:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Greetings from the Great North.
We are on our first road trip of the Spring and in a polar opposite location from last year's venture to sunny San Diego. We traveled up the Mississippi River to Minnesota, the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" and known for a variety of interesting things including the Twin Cities – Minneapolis & St. Paul, the nation's largest shopping mall – Mall of America, several Fortune 500 companies – Target, Best Buy, General Mills & Land 'o Lakes, professional sports franchises – Vikings (NFL), Twins (MLB), Timberwolves (NBA), Lynx (WNBA) and Wild (NHL), more than 200 colleges & universities (not going to them all of them but there is the "U", as in the University of Minnesota), over 3.5 million people, and something we don't see very often in Tuscaloosa…snow. So we embarked on our journey, while also being delayed for 2 hours at the gate in Charlotte as our plane didn't have running water, and have now parked ourselves for the weekend in the land of lakes and gophers, as in the Golden Gophers of the U. This is a return trip for us as the maroon and gold competed against us last February in our great state that has one sports franchise…the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. Before facing Minnesota on Sunday at noon (same time zone as Bama…CST) we play Drake at the U's Baseline Tennis Center on Friday at 2pm CST. The Bulldogs traveled a few hours north from Des Moines, Iowa. They are 2-time defending Summit League Champions and have reached the NCAA tournament 12 times, 11 of them coming since 2006. So both the Dogs and Gophers will give us a challenging bite this weekend.
Last week we hosted the Big Green (Dartmouth) and Hokies (Virginia Tech) indoors in front of great crowds. The Moe's burritos were a hit on Friday night and in plenty of fans' hands most of which were from the Capstone International Center and Honors College. Thanks to both groups for bringing students, faculty and staff to the match and cheering on the Tide. From the coaches' perspective the match was a result of opportunities and execution. We didn't create nor execute enough in the doubles portion which set us back against our Ivy League opponents, however we put ourselves in position to win the match with a couple of gutty 3-set performances by Patrick Kaukovalta and Alexey Nesterov. The net result was a 4-3 cliffhanger hanging the wrong way. While we couldn't control everything that happened that night, we challenged the team on what they could control – their response – and preparation for Sunday's match against Virginia Tech.
The second half of the weekend was a memorable one as Alabama Tennis recognized and honored a very special person that has served our program, university and community for many, many years. David Ford has been president/treasurer/board member of the Crimson Racket Club, professor of Management at UA and ultra-volunteer and giver in Tuscaloosa for more than 20 years. His colleagues from Alabama's Culverhouse College of Business packed the house and gave a standing ovation as David was introduced. His wife Linda stepped in for the first serve as the men's, women's and wheelchair tennis programs were on court along with David's family. What an outstanding individual whose contributions have been invaluable and innumerable. Click above to check out photos of the on-court presentation.
I'd say David's honoring added fuel to the fire that brewed in our locker room as our players' response to Friday was defiant and significant. Serves, returns, and volleys were struck well in doubles and pushed us to an early 1-0 lead. We kept the momentum in singles with the goal of making our opponents uncomfortable with purpose-driven execution. Alexey and Jeremy Gschwendtner pushed us to 3-0 and Zhe Zhou was up 6-1, 5-1 with Edson Ortiz closing in on a 3-set match, Riccardo Roberto battling senior captain and All-ACC player Mitch Harper and PK doing his best to stay alive although suffering from a back injury sustained at 4-1 up in the first set. The Culverhouse contingent clapped continuously and passionately as if they would have the rest of the afternoon to watch the Pro Bowl, mow the lawn or simply nap on the couch. But then again, college tennis wouldn't be college tennis if it wasn't filled with some drama, momentum shifts and nail biting moments. Zhe's opponent, Alex Ribeiro, had stung us before, including Zhe, who lost to him two seasons ago. The Hokie gobbled and clawed his way back into the match, winning six straight games and pushing the contest to a deciding 3rd set.
Va Tech had narrowed the gap to 3-2 now and Edson stared at an 0-3 deficit in his final frame against Henrik Korsgaard, a player he defeated in 2018 to clinch the Bama victory. Zhe broke in the first game to start his 3rd set and then traded service breaks back and forth with Ribeiro. Edson was unleashing his inner Toro and charged forward in the match while his matador opponent did his best to plunge his sword between Edson's shoulders. Both teams stood courtside as the matches were contested next to each other and ultimately to a point where we had an opportunity to close things out. Zhe and Edson broke their opponents' serves at 4-4 and 5-5 respectively to earn the rite to serve out the match at 5-4 and 6-5. Both players reached match point so it was just a matter of who was going to get the finish first. Similar to the result on January 26, 2018, Edson was first to cross the finish line and clinched his match with a big 1st serve followed by a missed service return by Korsgaard.  He turned to his teammates and yelled in their direction as they charged at him much like he was doing to the Hokie matador. Game, set, match…Bama.
So the guys responded well to their coaches' challenge and displayed plenty of poise with their problem solving and execution. A special moment celebrated on court #BuiltFordStrong (as in David Ford) and also reflected upon in the locker room as we discussed our plan for the week and the need for continued improvement. That process has continued and we are now presented with two more match opportunities in Minneapolis. While it will be snowing outside we will do our best to keep the flurries blowing every which way indoors versus the Drake Bulldogs and Minnesota Gophers. Join us online for live stream/stats and then join us at home next Friday, Feb 7 for our final scheduled indoor match at 6pm against Tulsa. The Crimson Racket Club will host their first of 2 free cookouts to all fans in attendance so come get your tasty hamburgers and hot dogs.
There are multiple sayings and words that almost all Minnesotans know and use in daily conversation, one of which is "Uff-da." To that I say…
Roll Tide!
George
Players Mentioned
