Net News, Volume 7
1/28/2022 10:13:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Roll Tide Everyone
The Bama Tennis freight train left the station a couple of weeks ago and the 2022 season was underway. We were home for a pair of matches (Jan 15 vs. Mercer/Samford) and competed in Oxford, Miss., (Jan 22 vs. Ole Miss) in our inaugural road trip. The competition was new, exciting, challenging and rewarding for our squad and we're chomping at the bit to get after it again this upcoming weekend. We shall merge onto US-82 from Campus Drive and head west to Starkville, Miss., for the 14th annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kickoff Weekend. Mississippi State is one of 15 men's programs from around the country hosting the event. There are also 15 women's programs doing the same. Four teams compete at each site, which equates to 60 teams vying for spots in the 2022 ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The men's indoors, scheduled for February 18-21, will be hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle. The University of Wisconsin will host the women's indoors in Madison, Wisc., February 11-14. The host sites were determined by the 2021 year-end rankings, while the remaining teams selected their battleground through the ITA Kickoff Weekend Draft last June. We targeted a few spots to participate, and when our turn was called in the draft, we chose the Mississippi State regional. As a coaching staff, we felt competing there was in our best interest from a travel, competition, familiarity and opportunity standpoint. What we didn't know was that this site would be an all-SEC affair with Kentucky and Arkansas also joining the party. As a result, we know for certain that an SEC team will earn a trip to Seattle for national indoors and that we will face a pair of conference teams before squaring off again later this spring. This is an invaluable opportunity and experience to get a first dual match look at our SEC peers, much like we accomplished last weekend at Ole Miss. This Saturday, we play Kentucky at 10 a.m. CT and then return on Sunday to face the Bulldogs or Razorbacks at the 10 a.m. consolation or 1 p.m. championship match. All action will be held indoors at the newly opened Rula Tennis Pavilion located right next to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre (State's outdoor facility). So the boxing gloves in crimson and white (Bama), blue and white (Kentucky), maroon and white (Mississippi State), and cardinal and white (Arkansas) will be ready to be laced up and put on ringside this weekend. Click here to find all of the details to the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
Last week was interesting as we experienced a slight hiccup in our schedule. We were host Oklahoma State last Saturday night, however, their squad was impacted by the Omicron variant and could not field enough players to compete. Their trip to Oxford and Tuscaloosa was canceled and as a result we searched to fill our open competition date. We decided to take our show on the road to Ole Miss in order to challenge our young team and also introduce them earlier in the season to the SEC. We arrived Friday afternoon and had a good practice at their nice indoor facility. The Rebels (aka Landsharks) had become a very familiar foe on court as our duals had been rather epic standoffs on an annual basis. I recall my first conference match against them back on March 1, 2013 when they staved off five match points and prevailed 4-3. A painful loss in the short term that materialized into a glorified gain in the long term, as we won by a similar score against the 6th-ranked Rebels at the year-end SEC Championships. Alabama senior Jarryd Botha clinched the long, thrilling, rain-delayed victory 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5 over fellow South African Nik Scholtz. Click here to see this 25-shot rally on match point that ended shortly after midnight. What a night! What a finish! Our matches that year set the tone for what was to come between the two storied programs, as well as developed a mutual respect for one another with an understanding that we'd always go the distance each time we stepped into the ring. Prior to last weekend, we had faced Ole Miss 14 times since 2013, with nine of those matches decided by 4-3 margins and four by a 4-2 margin. Las Vegas bookmakers would probably have had no line on the contest last weekend, or at the very least, had a steep investment required on the money line.
As our team entered the William F. Galtney Indoor Tennis Center we ran into a pair of Rebels who said, "I don't know anyone on your team but Patrick (Kaukovalta)." This brought a chuckle but also some insight as none of the current Ole Miss squad had faced anyone that was slotted to compete that afternoon for the Crimson Tide. Our Flying Finn, Patrick, traveled with us but was unable to play due to injury. El Gaucho, Juan Martin, woke up with back spasms and had his name scratched from the starting lineup. This was his second time to Oxford as he won a match a season ago when he helped his former team, TCU, defeat the Rebels 4-3 in February 2021 - You didn't think it would be a different final score, did you? So the veteran Rebels faced the "New Bama on the Block." Prior to starting the doubles, I told the team to introduce themselves to their gracious hosts first with a handshake and then follow it up with impactful first serves, low returns and aggressive net play. The action was tight and the communication, movement and solid play was again at a high level for a second consecutive match day. The newly formed pair of the King (Filip Planinsek) and Akula (German Samofalov) captured one end of the doubles point while teammates Enzo Aguiard (The Bull Shark) and Joao Ferreira (Sertanejo Man) solidified it and gave us an early 1-0 lead.
Ole Miss responded well in singles by snagging a couple of wins in straight sets, bumping the score to 2-1 for the home team. The final four matches were tight with all three going the distance (3 sets). Filip evened the score 2-2 in his win over 3-time All-American Finn Reynolds. Big serves, driving groundstrokes and really physical play was the difference in this heavyweight bout at the No. 1 spot. The final three matches were split with the Crimson Tide claiming one and the Rebels stealing the other two by a hair. Our guys put themselves in a position to win and were willing to battle to the bitter end (TTBE Coach Deheart & Goodie) but it would not be enough that evening. A 10th 4-3 affair had been put in the history books this time by a more aggressive and well executed, veteran finish by the home team. We packed up our gear, grabbed a bite to eat, gassed up and headed home. This was the first and not the last time we would face Ole Miss this season (Friday, March 11 at 6 p.m. is round 2). It was time for rest and recovery on Sunday and then back to work at practice on Monday to prepare for the all-SEC Kickoff.
As I encouraged fans to join us in Oxford, the message is similar this week but the travel time to Starkville is significantly less (just about 1hr & 20min). The Rula Tennis Pavilion is brand new and we'd welcome some Crimson Tide love as we face the Wildcats on Saturday. And the 4-3 match result thing? - Oh yeah, that's happened the last two times against Kentucky. If you can't make it, then follow us online via live stats and video stream by visiting RollTide.com or through our social media outlets (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook). Not sure what the result of the Kickoff will be come Sunday night or if we've punched our ticket to national indoors, but I am confident we will do our best to impose our game in order to make our opponents as uncomfortable as possible. If and when that's not possible, we will then be willing to problem solve, make adjustments, remain focused, and quite simply, compete. Are you ready?
Roll Tide,
George
Players Mentioned
