Hello again from Alabama Tennis,
The Crimson Tide have headed down the back stretch of the season and are galloping at a nice pace going into the final turn. This week marks the final two matches of the SEC schedule prior to the conference tournament which we host April 25-29. This weekend our travels are to the Swamp, home of the 10th-ranked Gators at the University of Florida, and onward to the Palmetto State to face the 27th-ranked Gamecocks of South Carolina. Both matches present tremendous opportunities for us to face two very good programs and also prepare us for the upcoming SEC Championships. Live stats and online streaming are available for both dual matches so Alabama fans can follow us on the road or at home.
(Live Stream/Stats – UF)
(Live Stats – USC)
(Live Stream – USC)
Last weekend brought great crowds and promotions to both of our facilities. Rain forced our match with #21 Georgia and the tasty Taco Mama food giveaway inside to the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility (aka the “RAB”), while plenty of sunshine kept our bout with #24 Tennessee outside as it was the perfect day for grilling out by David Ford and the Crimson Racket Club. Many thanks again David, Colin Martin, CRC volunteers, the Civinettes and several others including the coaching staff spouses. We also welcomed UA Director of Pep Bands, Neal Flum, and members of the infamous Million Dollar Band whose music echoed throughout the RAB and gave our squad a boosted spirit and beat. Alabama softball head coach and friend Patrick Murphy kicked off the night with the honorary first serve though he needed a few cuts to get that fuzzy yellow ball over the net. Great perseverance Murph! Friday’s match with the Dawgs was historic as the Tide defeated our friends from Athens for the first time in 15 years. We grabbed the doubles point on courts 1 & 2 with the Edson Ortiz/Mazen Osama and Thibault Cancel/Alexey Nesterov tandems registering solid wins. Point Bama! Roll Tide! The momentum continued into singles where we earned victories on court #6 (Zhe Zhou), #1 (Mazen) and the clincher on #5 (Alexey Nesterov). Georgia came into the match having defeated #2 Ohio State earlier in the year and also held a 65-8 record against the Crimson and White. I don’t believe Alexey will ever forget the feel of hitting his first serve, watching the return sail wide and realizing that he had just won the match for Alabama for just the 9th time in program history. Match Bama! Roll Tide!
There wasn’t much time to celebrate as we were back at it on Sunday against the visiting Vols of Tennessee. The crowd arrived early for burgers, hot dogs and conecuh sausage…could there be anything better? Plenty of kids visited the bounce house and fans were treated to a very good doubles performance by the Tide. Alexey and Thibault were first to finish and then Patrick Kaukovalta/Zhe Zhou provided the doubles point clincher. Point Bama! Roll Tide! Singles got underway and we felt great about our chances to make it a clean SEC weekend sweep. We got up early on a few courts and things appeared to head in the right direction. Hats off to the Volunteers, however, as they fought back point by point, game by game, set by set. Patrick earned his first conference singles victory but unfortunately that was the tale of the tape. We’ve been achingly close on several occasions this season like this dual but it hasn’t killed the spirit, fight or persistence of this team.
We returned to the courts on Tuesday following a day off and body recovery on Monday. Thank you Katie, Macy, Van, Lauren, Brooke, Kolby, Will and Mona for all that you do for these guys and getting their bodies ready for battle again and again and again! We had two solid days of training prior to our departure to Gainesville where we haven’t competed since 2015 (a narrow 4-2 defeat). The last team to defeat the Gators was Billy Pate’s Crimson Tide in 2008 (a 5-2 Bama win clinched by Dan Buikema at #5 singles by a score of 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3) and in 2001 Adam Steinberg’s squad beat Florida twice (4-2 during the regular season with Chris Gostek clinching in three sets 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 at #3 singles & 4-0 at the SEC Championships…another Gostek clinching moment at #3 singles 2-6, 7-5, 6-2). So there’s another historic opportunity this weekend and we look forward to the challenge ahead.
Remember to circle your calendars for April 25-29 as the SEC Tournament comes to Tuscaloosa. Tickets can be purchased at www.rolltide.com or by calling 205-348-BAMA. An exciting feature of the championships include having two matches played at the same time on different sides of the UA Tennis Stadium. The competition schedule for the week includes:
April 25 – 1 match at either 12pm or 4pm (TBD after this weekend)
April 26 – 2 matches at 12pm and 2 matches at 4pm
April 27 – Quarterfinal round with 2 matches at 12pm followed by 2 matches at 4pm
April 28 – Semifinal round with 2 matches at 2pm
April 29 – Final at 1pm
Thanks again for your continued support of the Crimson Tide and this unique group of quality young men. We look forward to seeing you back on campus and at the courts for the tournament.
Roll Tide!
George