By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team kicked off its two-match Alabama road swing with a 5-2 defeat at the hands of UAB Thursday afternoon in Birmingham.

After taking on a pair of SEC teams in No. 6 Tennessee and Vanderbilt to kick start the season, the Golden Eagles (0-3) managed to produce their first points of 2024 in the loss to the Blazers. The purple and gold captured the doubles point for the first time this spring and Davids Spaks picked up Tech's first singles nod behind a straight-set victory in the No. 5 position to account for the pair of points.

The Golden Eagle rookie out of Liepaja, Latvia took down Juan Pablo Valdez 6-2, 6-3 to push TTU to a 2-1 edge at the time, before the Blazers (2-2) rattled off four straight solo nods to seize the match. Ondrej Valek squared the score with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Paulo Ramos Martin in the No. 4 slot, before Gimenez Perez rallied to claim a 3-6, 6-0, 6-0 against Alex Alvarez in the No. 1 battle to give UAB a 3-2 advantage.

The Blazers officially clinched the match thanks to a Dellien 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 triumph over Darek Kuzcynski in the No. 6 slot for the club's fourth point, before Noah Malige put the finishing touches on the contest with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 decision against Murilo Burckhardt in the No. 2 clash.

UAB started singles play with a Georgios Nouchakis victory against Lucas Bitzer in the No. 3 meeting after Bitzer retired in the second set.

TTU's first doubles point of the year featured a Davids Spaks and Lucas Bitzer 6-2 win over Noah Malige and Ondrej Valek in the No. 1 position to go along with an Alex Alvarez and Paulo Ramos Martin 6-2 nod against Parker Bradbary and Georgious Nouchakis in the No. 2 spot.

The UAB tandem of Carlos Gimenez Perez and Juan Pablo Valdez knocked off Murilo Burckhardt and Darek Kuczynski 6-3 in the No. 3 get-together.

The Golden Eagles will conclude their season-opening four-match road trek with a Saturday afternoon match at No. 21 Alabama. First serve in Tuscaloosa is set for 4 p.m. CT.

Photo by Thomas Corhern