April 11, 2008

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- The 22nd-ranked Alabama men's tennis team hosts in-state rival Auburn this Saturday, April 12, at the UA Varsity Courts in the final match of the conference season. The match is slated to begin at 5 p.m. with the team honoring its four seniors before the start of doubles play.

"The regular season-ending match with Auburn is always a tightly contested battle," said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. "This is one of those rivalry matches where you can definitely throw out the rankings and records. We'll need to be at our best as we expect it to come down to the wire."

Alabama, 18-8 overall and 6-4 in the SEC, comes into the weekend on a four-match winning streak after defeating UAB and Samford Wednesday in a non-conference doubleheader. The Tide has four players with over 20 wins and is led by the 15th-ranked doubles tandem of Daniel Buikema and Mat Thibaudeau.

Senior Sammy Struyf leads the Tide in singles wins with 25, while Buikema and Thibaudeau lead the team in doubles victories with 26.

Alabama leads the series with the Tigers with a 53-29-1 mark against Auburn, including wins in the last three meetings. Auburn heads into the match 10-10 overall and 4-6 in the SEC and is coming off a victory over South Carolina last weekend.

Auburn is led by Alexey Tsyrenov, who is 11-6 at No. 1 singles and holds a team-best 6-4 SEC record.

Live statistics will be available at rolltide.com. The first 100 fans to arrive at Varsity Courts will receive a t-shirt or a pair of Alabama crocks. An autographed basketball and football will also be raffled off after the completion of doubles play (approximately one hour after the match begins). The Tide is looking to break the NCAA all-time single-match attendance record of 1,267 set by Virginia.

"We encourage all our fans and many of the Tide fans here for the A-Day Game to drop by and support us," said Pate. "I know we'll have a fantastic crowd but we have a chance to have an all-time attendance record for tennis here at the Capstone."

Admission to the event is free and you must be present to win a prize.