Tennessee tennis defeated Alabama on Thursday night, winning 4-3 in Tuscaloosa. The No. 19 Vols (14-5, 5-3 SEC) have won five SEC matches in a row after starting 0-3 in conference play. The No. 33 Crimson Tide (10-8, 2-7) continue their slide, dropping the last five matches.
Great doubles effort
Tennessee swept Alabama in doubles, winning on all three courts to gain the early lead. The Vols stuck with their usual pairings on the first two courts, with Alejandro Moreno and Alex Kotzen taking Court 1. Shunsuke Mitsui and Alan Jesudason were the duo on Court 2, but Tennessee switched it up on Court 3 again.
James Newton and Jose Garcia took the final courts and made the decision worth it. After Moreno and Kotzen won their set 6-2, the Vols were knocking on the door early. Newton and Garcia seized the opportunity, winning their set 6-4 to clinch the point and give the Vols a 1-0 edge early in the match.
Mitsui and Jesudason winning was just the icing for Tennessee, posting a 6-5 win to give the Vols a confidence boost heading into singles play.
Impressive day in singles
After sweeping Alabama in doubles, the Vols cleaned up the job in singles.
That cleanup job wouldn’t get started without a hitch, as Jose Garcia was dominated on Court 3. He quickly fell 6-2 and 6-1, tying up the match.
No. 35 Kotzen got Tennessee its first singles point of the day, taking down No. 83 Roan Jones 6-4 and 6-3, giving the Vols the lead again. But as soon as the Vols had something going, Alabama matched it. No. 24 Mitsui went down next, losing 7-5 and 6-3 to No. 18 Filip Planinsek to tie it up again.
However, that would be the Crimson Tide’s last point until the match was out of hand.
Although the match was tied, Tennessee had the lead on the last courts it needed. Ian Cruz won the next point 6-3 and 6-4 on Court 6, meaning just one more point would seal the match. Moreno polished off the match, winning 6-3 and 7-5 on Court 4 to seal it.
With the Vols sealing the match and leading 4-2, the teams decided to ride it out for the final singles match. Jesudason lost 7-4, 6-7, and 10-7, giving the Crimson Tide a third point as the match ended.
Up next
Tennessee will stay down south, taking on Auburn on Saturday for the last leg of its short road trip. Auburn comes into the rankings at No. 27, so the match will be even more competitive than it was against Alabama.
