University of Alabama freshman Mazen Osama has enjoyed quite the start to his collegiate career, going 4-1 to start his season. This week, he was recognized for his stellar play.

Osama was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after a week where he went 2-0 during the Crimson Tide’s matches against North Florida and Miami. Those two wins include a win over the No. 23 ranked singles player in the county, Piotr Lomacki of Miami.

Coach George Husack feels that the honor is well-deserved.

“He had a very big win against Miami’s number one, he had a great weekend overall, and is very deserving,” Husack said.

Osama was excited about the recognition, but is ready to focus on what’s next.

“It’s a big honor of course,” Osama said. “It’s something to start with in my freshman year.”

What’s next for the Tide is a match against No. 31 Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida on Friday, January 29. Alabama is 5-1, but Florida State may be the toughest opponent the Tide have faced this season. The Seminoles have yet to lose a doubles point this season, and that’s something that Alabama has focused on in practice.

“We’ve been training with doubles points more, and it should be a good challenge for us,” Osama said.

The match is expected to be played outdoors in Tallahassee, and that will provide a different look for the Crimson Tide. They haven’t played a lot of outdoor matches this season.

“It’ll be outdoors, so that will be a challenge,” Husack said. “These guys are ready for the task. We want to be great, so we have to play well against good teams in order to do that.”

It isn’t just Osama who has played well so far this year. Senior Becker O’Shaughnessey has won his last five singles matches, and sophomore Korey Lovett has played well in recent matches.

For the Crimson Tide to come up with the win against the Seminoles, it will take strong play from everyone on the team.

The Crimson Tide play in Tallahassee at 4 p.m. on Friday.