By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It's an Alabama road swing to open the month of February for the Tennessee Tech tennis team, as the Golden Eagles will travel to UAB for a Thursday matchup with the Blazers, before heading to No. 21 Alabama for a Saturday showdown with the Crimson Tide. Tech's Thursday tangle in Birmingham is slated to start at 2 p.m. CT, while Saturday's affair in Tuscaloosa is scheduled to get underway at 4 p.m.
Saturday's match with the Tide will be live streamed. Click here to watch. Live stats will also be available. Click here to view.
A look at Tennessee Tech
Following an 11-day hiatus from the courts, the Golden Eagles (0-2) will jump back into a season-opening four-match road trek that will feature clashes against three SEC schools and two nationally ranked foes. TTU opened up the year with a 7-0 defeat at No. 6 Tennessee on Jan. 13, before falling 7-0 at Vanderbilt on Jan. 21.
Freshman Lucas Bitzer has managed to force a third set in each of his first two singles matchups after playing Angel Diaz to a third set in the battle with the Volunteers, before extending Nathan Cox to a third set in the meeting the Commodores. Darek Kuczynski also pushed the proceedings to a third set in his solo get-together with Alexandre Hillhouse in the match with Vandy.
The Golden Eagles were selected to finish tied with Tennessee State for second place in the Horizon League's South Division during the conference's predicted order of finish. Belmont was chosen to win the south, while Cleveland State was picked as the favorite to capture the five-team North Division.
A look at UAB
The Blazers (1-2) are fresh off their first win of 2024 after topping North Alabama 6-1 on Monday. UAB's victory over the Lions featured solo triumphs out of Carlos Gimenez Perez, Noah Malige, Georgios Nouchakis, Ondrej Valek and Iker Dellien. Nouchakis' nod pushed the Rethymno, Greece native to a team-leading 2-1 singles record over the first three contests.
As far as doubles play is concerned, the tandem of Gimenez Perez and Juan Pablo Valdez, along with Malige and Valek are the only Blazer duos to collect a victory this spring.
UAB's pair of losses came at the hands of SMU on Jan. 14 and No. 25 Memphis on Jan. 12.
A look at No. 21 Alabama
After dropping their first two affairs of 2024, the Crimson Tide (3-2) have since rattled off three wins in a row. Alabama first took down Jacksonville State 7-0 on Jan. 21, before tackling Nebraska 4-2 on Jan. 26 and No. 10 Kentucky 4-2 on Jan. 27. Before hosting Tech on Saturday, the Tide will go toe-to-toe with Kennesaw State in Tuscaloosa at 11 a.m. CT.
Andri Zimnokh possesses the club's best singles mark thanks to a 4-1 spring record, doing the bulk of the work out of the No. 5 position where the freshman out of Kharkiv, Ukraine is a perfect 3-0. Roan Jones will enter Saturday with a 3-1 solo ledger, highlighted by a 2-0 record out of the No. 4 spot. Enzo Aguiard and Matias Ponce De Leon round out Alabama's quartet of singles players with winning records behind identical 3-2 accounts.
Jones and Matic Dimic own the squad's best doubles mark with a 4-1 tandem achievement throughout the early stages of the season. The pair has gone 3-1 in the No. 3 slot.
Inside the series
Thursday's showdown will represent the fifth meeting in the all-time series. After falling in the first two tug of wars to UAB, the Golden Eagles have collected back-to-back victories, which includes a 6-1 win in Cookeville on Apr. 4, 2021 and a 6-1 nod in Birmingham on Apr. 15, 2022. Last year's scheduled tilt at Tech Tennis Courts was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Saturday's contest will feature the eighth get-together in the all-time set. Tech claimed the first ever duel with a 6-3 decision on May 3, 1971, but Alabama has since rattled off six straight wins. The two teams last met on Apr. 3, 2022 in a 6-1 Tide triumph in Tuscaloosa.
Photo by TTU Marketing
