2021 NET NEWS, Volume 14
5/7/2021 10:06:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Greetings from the Lone Star State!
While men's and women's basketball have March Madness, the postseason madness in men's and women's tennis starts in May. Following a successful regular season campaign by our veteran led squad, we have qualified for our third consecutive trip to the NCAA championships. The team and support staff gathered together this past Monday and watched the selection show with great anticipation and excitement. The field of 64 teams was broken down into 16 regional host sites, 7 of which came from the Southeastern Conference (an impressive number).
Within each region there would be 4 teams named to play at one host site. We knew we would not compete at an SEC host site as the rules stated we could not face a conference opponent in the first two rounds of play. So, our 'guestimates' included a trip to the states of Florida (UCF), Texas (TCU, Baylor or Texas) and North Carolina (Wake Forest or UNC). As each region filled, we finally heard our name called out and found its place in the draw against Oregon in Waco, Texas, home of the Baylor Bears. While Waco is known for a very unfortunate siege back in the early 1990s, the town of 140,000+ residents is now mostly linked with a popular television couple, Chip and Joanna Gaines, of the famed 'Fixer Upper' series on HGTV. Their Magnolia Market at the Silos is a shopping complex that encompasses two city blocks in downtown Waco and is marked by two 120' high silos, built in 1950 as part of the Brazos Valley Cotton Oil Company. Chip and Joanna transformed the landmark in 2015 which impacted the city and surrounding areas as well as created a bucket list item for visitors. The grounds include a 12,000 sq. ft. retail store located in the historic grain barn and office building, a food truck park with picnic tables, a garden store, bakery, and lawn area. Admission is free so there is more money to spend on site.
I'm not sure if the Gaines family is into tennis but there will be a full day of it on Saturday at the beautiful and very impressive Hurd Tennis Center. We face the Ducks, an at-large selection from the Pac-12, at 11 a.m. CT, followed by Big 12 champion Baylor versus Texas A&M Corpus Christi, champions of the Southland conference, at 2 p.m. CT. Later that afternoon the 2nd round of the women's regional continues with host Baylor facing Duke. The Blue Devils were triumphant against our Alabama women's team who battled the 'Dukies' in the first round. Congrats to Coach Jenny, Coach Jonatan and Coach Keith as well as all of the girls who earned their spot in the NCAAs because of their heart, resilience, feisty competitiveness and determination all season. As I told them following their match, competing in the post-season is an all-the-time thing for Alabama and not a once-in-a-while trip. They'll be back even stronger next year. Roll Tide ladies!
In addition to the team selection show this week, players were announced for the singles and doubles portion of championship. Edson "El Toro" Ortiz, the 2021 SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year and an All-SEC first-team honoree, earned his first trip to the NCAA singles 'big dance' while Zhe "Big Z" Zhou was named an alternate. Riccardo "Rise & Shine" Roberto and Patrick "The Flying Finn" Kaukovalta punched their ticket to the doubles championship with Patrick making his second trip to this tournament. Last time he found his name in the doubles draw was in 2019 with Mazen Osama. The dynamic pair served, retuned, volleyed, poached and smashed their way to the finals, and this time, I'm sure PK wants nothing more than to have a similar week of great tennis with Riky. The team finals and individual championships will once again take place in Lake Nona, Florida at the USTA National Campus, May 22-28.
Before all the individual championships start, however, we must get back to business and the task at hand … Round 1, Saturday, May 8. And as the saying goes, "if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." The Ducks flew in from the Pacific Northwest sporting their famed green and yellow colors and will make their fourth team championship appearance in the last five seasons. It will be the third time we've face Oregon, having split the first two contests. It promises to be a great test for our team with records, streaks, scouting notes and history thrown out the window with a fresh case of tennis balls standing courtside ready to be opened.
If you're in the area, stop on by the Hurd Tennis Center to cheer on the Tide and then cruise over to the Magnolia Market to see if Chip and Joanna are there. If you're not able to join us in person, then jump onto RollTide.com, sporting plenty of crimson and white colors and your postseason dancing shoes and cheer us from wherever you might be with live stats and live streaming video. This will be the final tournament for this outstanding group of young men this season – Alabama's Last Dance – and I'm excited to let these horses run wild and free starting Saturday morning in Waco, Texas.
Giddy up & Roll Tide.
George
George Husack
Head Men's Tennis Coach
University of Alabama
