In the second match of its four-match final home weekend, the No. 29 Alabama men’s tennis team fell to No. 9 UGA 4-0 on Friday.
The match dropped the Crimson Tide to 4-7 in the SEC with only one final SEC match left to play.
Despite the loss, sophomore Becker O’Shaughnessey said he felt the team played well and should keep confidence in the upcoming matches.
“We did really well. We just need to keep playing with high confidence and know that we can beat these tough teams,” O’Shaughnessey said. “We just have to play our butts off on every point, and the wins will come.”
After a series of tiebreakers, UGA took the doubles point to open the match. The Bulldogs took the first doubles win on court one, where senior captain Daniil Proskura and O’Shaughnessey fell 8-7(3).
Court three saw its own back-and-forth match. In their hour-long match, freshman Nikko Madregallejo and junior Andrew Goodwin ultimately fell to the Bulldogs in a tiebreaker, allowing Georgia to clench the doubles point with a 8-7(5) win.
The match on court three was then suspended, with freshman Sean Donohue and junior Stuart Kenyon leading the Bulldogs in a tiebreaker of their own.
Close matches have been a trend for the Crimson Tide this season, and coach George Husack said although Alabama hasn’t always come out on top, it has shown the team’s ability to continue to compete.
“We were really close. This season has been such a game of inches,” Husack said. “One or two points separates us from doing some really special things, but the really special thing is that we’ve hung in there, and it hasn’t deflated us.”
In singles play, the Bulldogs secured wins on courts five, four and six to seal the match.
Matches were suspended on all other courts. Proskura had just finished the first set on court one, falling 7-6(3). O’Shaughnessey took the first set 6-3 on court two and was tied at 4-4 in the second set. On court three, Madregallejo trailed 3-2 in the second set after being edged 6-4 in the first.
In its first match of the day beginning at 10 a.m., the Crimson Tide beat Tulane 4-1. An 8-3 win on court two from Kenyon and Donohue, followed by an 8-3 Alabama win on court one from Proskura and O’Shaughnessey sealed the doubles point for the Crimson Tide. A 7-3 Alabama lead on court three was suspended.
O’Shaughnessey secured the Crimson Tide’s first win in singles play with a 6-3, 6-1 win on court two, followed by Kenyon with a 6-4, 6-1 victory on court four.
A 6-3, 6-3 win on court one from Proskura sealed Alabama’s victory over UAB.
The Crimson Tide will host two matches Sunday to conclude its regular season play and final home weekend. The Tide will face No. 21 Tennessee at 1 p.m., followed by a match against Nicholls State at 6 p.m.
Husack said he looks not only to the team’s fitness, but also its motivation to make it to the postseason to carry it throughout the busy weekend.
“We’ve had excellent training programs from our strength trainer, and we are fit enough to endure this,” Husack said. “Motivation is to get over the hump. One or two points have stopped us from getting over the hump, and that’s what we look to do on Sunday.”
