The Crimson Tide men’s tennis team defeated the UAB Blazers Wednesday 4-3 in the final home game of the season at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.
After a 5-2 loss to Mississippi State on Sunday, the Tide was on the low side headed into the match but picked up just enough speed after a solid doubles performance.
“They fought us well,” said head coach Billy Pate. “The doubles point was really crucial. We’ve been up and down in doubles, but we won a really close doubles point today. We thought we’d have enough momentum to really get out the gate quick in singles and we really didn’t.”
The first pair to finish was Alabama juniors Vikram Reddy and Michael Thompson, who fell to Danny Manlow and Chris Helliar, 5-8, with the Blazers in favor throughout.
Daniil Proskura and Trey Walston earned an 8-6 win over UAB duo David Daniel Moser and Lucas Dirube. The Tide twosome managed to keep it within a point all through the match and found their stride in the last quarter for the win.
Ricky Doverspike and Jarryd Botha also carried out a lead-changing match against David Zimmerman and Tom Puetz to lock in the doubles point. Doverspike/Botha tied it up on court one, in nearly every set before securing the victory, 9-8.
“We needed a doubles win,” Walston said. “We’ve kind of been slacking there recently and it turned out to be the deciding point. That was nice.”
In singles, Reddy finished first on court four with a win over Manlow, 6-1, 6-3. Moments later, Proskura outplayed Puetz with a sweep in the first set and consistent control over the second, 6-0, 6-3. Thompson was the first to drop a singles match, losing to Moser 6-1, 6-3.
Though Ian Chadwell broke the 4-all tie in the first set against Helliar, the half and the match went to UAB, 6-4, 6-2. Doverspike sealed the team win with a hard fought victory over Dirube, 6-3, 7-5.
Botha fell in the final match against Zimmerman 6-2, 7-6, 6-2 after an all out battle for the final point in the third set.
“Today was definitely a big win,” Doverspike said. “They [UAB] are defiantly going to show up every single year and this match. We’ve definitely built a lot of confidence thinking about Auburn.”
The game brought the Tide to 10-all in regular-season play. Alabama will head to Auburn with hopes of beating its SEC rival on Friday at 5 p.m.
“We’re a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team right now,” Pate said. “We could be dangerous. Sometimes we’re not playing with the confidence we need but it’s there. It’s close and the guys know that. We just have to put it together and we’ve got to use it to go in to Auburn and win it.”
