The Alabama men’s tennis team will play a doubleheader today against The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Samford University.
The first match will begin at 1 p.m. against UAB, the Samford team will take the court at 6 p.m.
The Blazers will face the Tide outside at the Alabama Tennis Stadium, and the Samford match will be played next door inside at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility.
“The outdoor courts are a little different,” freshman Becker O’Shaughnessey said. “It shouldn’t affect our play, though. We have been practicing both outside and inside; our play shouldn’t change much.”
The Crimson Tide is coming off an impressive showing in Flushing, N.Y., where they won both matches in a doubleheader this past weekend against Cornell and Harvard. The Tide defeated Cornell 5-2 and Harvard 4-1.
“It was challenging in that we had two matches in one day,” head coach George Husack said. “The team responded well to the challenge. We have been preaching being relentless with our work ethic, and it showed this past weekend.”
The tough wins have raised team morale, O’Shaughnessey said.
“Overall the two matches in New York were really good confidence boosters,” O’Shaughnessey said. “Hopefully the results keep coming like that, but it’s going to be tougher and tougher.”
The Tide is off to a 6-1 start, and O’Shaughnessey said a good work ethic is key for the team to continue having success.
“We keep getting better every day,” O’Shaughnessey said. “Training hard enough is big for us; the results will come if you work your tail off.”
UAB is 2-3 on the season, and Samford is 1-1. Husack said the two opponents will be ready for the Tide.
“I think there would be nothing more those teams would want than to work us over,” Husack said. “Whatever happened Friday is great, but it’s in the past. We stated yesterday were going back to basics, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Husack said that with another doubleheader comes another challenge for the Tide, and they will have to step up.
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Under Potter, Tide ready to defend national title
