April 4, 2008

Final Stats

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The 24th ranked Alabama men's tennis team dominated South Carolina on the road today to pick up its fifth conference victory of the season. With the win the Tide improves to 15-8 overall and 5-4 in the SEC, while the Gamecocks fall to 9-10 and 1-8 in the SEC.

"It was a solid performance for us throughout the lineup," said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "We needed to be sharp today as South Carolina is very talented and very capable. They've had some key injuries but they fought us well and I was happy with how we handled that and performed down the stretch."

Alabama took an early lead in the match by claiming wins at numbers one and three doubles. The 14th ranked tandem of Daniel Buikema and Mat Thibaudeau defeated Pedro Campos and Johannes Pulsfort 8-4 at No. 1 before Sammy Struyf and Javier Bes downed Yevgeny Supeko and David Wolff 8-3 of No. 3 to clinch the point.

The Tide's Saketh Myneni and Andrew Felsenthal led Diego Cubas and Ivan Cressoni 5-4 at No. 2 doubles before the match was called.

In singles, Alabama picked up wins at five of the six singles slots to earn the victory. The Tide's Myneni earned the first win at No. 1 singles to give Alabama a 2-0 lead. Myneni defeated Supeko 6-0, 6-2. At No. 3 South Carolina picked up the next win at No. 4 singles to put the Gamecocks on the board, but the 98th ranked Thibaudeau responded with a 7-6, 6-2 victory from No. 2 singles to clinch the win.

Alabama's Michael Jung and Buikema finished out the match with wins over their opponents at numbers six and five respectively.

The Tide faces the 11th ranked Florida Gators Sunday in its last road contest of the regular season. Live statistics for the match will be available at rolltide.com.

#24 Alabama 6, #57 South Carolina 1
Sam Daniels Tennis Center
Columbia, S.C.

Singles: 1. #120 Saketh Myneni (UA) d. Yevgeny Supeko (SC) 6-0, 6-2
2. #98 Mat Thibaudeau (UA) d. Diego Cubas (SC) 7-6, 6-2
3. Sammy Struyf (UA) d. Pedro Campos (SC) 6-3, 6-2
4. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) d. Javier Bes (UA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
5. Daniel Buikema (UA) d. Ivan Cressoni (SC) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
6. Michael Jung (UA) d. David Wolff (SC) 6-2, 7-6
Order of finish: 1,3,4,2*,6,5

Doubles: 1. #14 Buikema/Thibaudeau (UA) d. Campos/Pulsfort (SC) 8-4
2. Myneni/Felsenthal (UA) led Cubas/Cressoni (SC) 5-4, dnf
3. Struyf/Bes (UA) d. Supeko/Wolff (SC) 8-2
Order of finish: 1,3,2