Third Time’s the Charm at Alabama State

Head Coach Thomas Colvin told his Bulldog tennis team that the first half of the season was not what it should have been and that the second half of the year needed to be better.

After two losses to a tough Western Kentucky team, the Bulldogs responded with a win at Alabama State.

“We’d lost two matches to them this season,” coach Colvin said. “The previous two were both 3-4 and I told them that we needed somebody to step up and get a win.”

Senior Evan Brown, who had not played singles in the previous matches, was inserted into the lineup at the #5 singles spot and ended up being the difference. The Atlanta, GA native hung on to win the first set, then handled ASU’s Freeman to close out his match, 6-4, 6-2.

“Evan made a huge contribution for us today,” Colvin mentioned. “He has been trying to get himself ready to play singles and I’d say he’s getting a lot closer to being a difference maker for us.”

The Bulldogs got ahead of the Hornets in winning a dramatic doubles point that could have gone either way. ASU won 8-3 at #3 doubles, while the Bulldogs Nicholas Burger and Andrez Veliz blanked ASU 8-0 at the #2 spot.

The decisive match was a see-saw battle at #1 until the very end. Desta Sandy and Dominique Alexander pulled out the final two games and secured the point with a 9-7 win.

In singles, things went as they had in the previous meeting, except at the #5 spot.

Juniors Desta Sandy and Nicholas Burger got straight set wins at #’s 1 and 4 respectively, 6-2, 6-3 and 6-3, 6-2.

The Bulldogs lost at #’s 2, 3 and 6, with Brown’s straight set win being the difference.

“It was good to get this win today,” Colvin said. “I think it bodes well for us as we march through the second half of the season and into the SWAC Tournament.”

Print Friendly Version