The Alabama men’s tennis team will host the Texas A&M Aggies in its final home match of the season Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.
Going into this weekend the Crimson Tide only has three matches left in the regular season. Freshman Becker O’Shaughnessey said the team is excited for its final home match of the year.
“It’s going to be a great match; hopefully we get a big crowd out for it,” O’Shaughnessey said. “It’s going to be a little sad that it’s our final home match of the year, but we’re excited for A&M.”
Alabama is looking to get back on the winning track, as it has lost its last four matches. Alabama’s last win was on March 16 when it defeated in-state rival Auburn 4-3.
In its four-match losing streak the Tide has been defeated by Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Despite dropping its last four matches, head coach George Husack said Alabama is a team on the rise.
“I think we competed well against Vanderbilt, but we did not compete well against Kentucky,” Husack said. “I think we are on the uptick, as much as that may sound.”
This match will be the first time Texas A&M and Alabama will meet as Southeastern Conference opponents. The No. 12 Aggies come into the match against the Tide with a 13-10 record.
O’Shaughnessey said the team is ready to square off against one of the new additions to the SEC.
“They are a really good team and have had a really good season so far,” O’Shaughnessey said. “Hopefully we can compete and play to go out and get the win against them.”
The mindset for Alabama headed into the match is to compete and treat it like just another match. Husack said they got away from this mindset a little during the last four matches.
“We just have to compete and not worry what the score is, what we’re ranked, what our record is – nothing matters. It’s a simple tennis match.” Husack said. “In the grand scheme of things this is just another tennis match and that’s what we need to treat each one like.”
O’Shaughnessey said if the Tide wants to get back in the win column it’s going to need to continue to fight and to improve in practice.
Husack said playing in the SEC really allows the team to compete and be challenged and this is what Alabama will see when they face the Aggies.
“The beauty of our conference is it’s another challenge, and yet it’s another opportunity for us,” Husack said.
