Friday, 01/27/2012

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men’s tennis team will face its second dual match opponent this season on Saturday when it plays No. 9 UCLA in the first round of the annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Crimson Tide will then take on either Fresno State or UC Irvine on Sunday. All action will take place at the Los Angeles Tennis Center in Los Angeles, California.

“This is a great opportunity for our team,” said Alabama head coach Billy Pate. “We had a good week of practice, and we're anxious to get back on court and compete. UCLA has a fantastic tennis tradition and annually boasts one of the top teams in the country, so we'll need to be sharp on Saturday.”

The Tide opened dual match play last week with a close 4-3 loss to Northwestern at home. Senior Michael Thompson led the way for Alabama, winning both his singles match and doubles match, with fellow senior Ricky Doverspike. Also picked up wins for the Tide was junior Jarryd Botha at No. 1 singles and sophomore Daniil Proskura at No. 3.

The Bruins have already opened their dual match slate as well with two victories, including a 6-1 victory over BYU and a 7-0 win over UC Irvine. UCLA has three ranked singles plays in sophomore Clay Thompson, freshman Marcos Giron, and sophomore Adrien Puget. Thompson is currently No. 72, Giron No. 86 and Puget No. 94.

Alabama and UCLA will be meeting for the third time in program history, with the last meeting taking place during the 1993 season. The Bruins came away with the 5-1 win in the match.

Live scoring will be available throughout the weekend and can be found on the men’s tennis schedule page of RollTide.com.

- UA -