The Alabama women’s tennis team will host the Arkansas Razorbacks Friday at 3 p.m. for their Southeastern Conference home opener in the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility.
Alabama is currently on a six-match winning streak and is ranked No. 5 in the country. Despite the high ranking, assistant coach Max Norris said the team is focused on playing tennis.
“The ranking shows what we’re capable off,” Norris said. “But, we are not necessarily concerned with the rankings right now. We are concerned about practice every day, being competitively tough and doing those sorts of things.”
The Tide has started off 2-0 in the SEC, defeating the Ole Miss Rebels 4-3 and the Mississippi State Bulldogs 6-1. Sophomore Emily Zabor said the team picked up good wins against competitive teams.
“We knew they both were going to play really hard,” Zabor said. “So we knew we had to get out of the gates quickly and take it match by match, we did that and it was a good weekend to start off.”
In the Ole Miss match, Alabama was down 3-0 and fought all the way back to win the match 4-3. Zabor said it was a good match but also a tiring one.
“They competed really hard against us as they took a 3-0 lead.” Zabor said. “We came back and won the last four matches and won 4-3. It was a good win but a very exhausting one because it was a six hour match.”
Zabor said one of the things that have helped contributed to the team’s success is how well they play on Sundays.
“One of our team goals is to be a strong Sunday,” Zabor said. “We have been a good Sunday team so far this year.”
Norris said the game plan against Arkansas is to play a complete match.
“We are placing a big emphasis on playing a consistently feisty tough match throughout the whole match, ” Norris said. “It is very important that we start strong in doubles with our mindset and keep that mindset going throughout the whole match. We want to have lot energy and almost make it miserable to play us.”
Zabor said, “If Alabama wants to continue being successful it needs to continue to compete as hard as it can because every match in the SEC is tough.”
“The SEC is a lot stronger than it was last year; everyone got stronger this year,” Zabor said. “I know Arkansas will give us its best.”
The Tide is looking forward to being back at home and is excited for the chance to continue its winning streak.
“We are excited to be home this weekend,” Zabor said. “We are excited at the opportunity to play a good opponent in Arkansas.”
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