The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Men's Tennis Team Opens Dual Match Season
1/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 31, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB men's tennis team opens its 2008 dual match season this weekend and Derek Tarr, entering his 20th season as the Blazers' head coach, is anxious to see if his squad's depth is as good as it appears.
UAB begins the season Friday with a match at home against North Alabama at the Brook Highland Racquet Club. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. On Sunday, the Blazers travel to Starkville, Miss. to take on perennial Southeastern Conference power Mississippi State. That match also will start at 1:00 p.m.
The Blazers, coming off a 13-8 campaign last spring, don't have a dominant player at the top of their lineup. What they do have, Tarr feels, is a balanced roster that he hopes will pay off as the season progresses in the coming months. "I think we have six evenly-matched players," said Tarr, a former All-American as a collegiate player at Auburn, "but at the same time, we have three new players who have never played a collegiate match."
Dan Cornei, Brian Ly and Slawomir Szeremeta all have yet to play collegiately while Tyrone Ewels saw action in the fall tournaments for the Blazers but also hasn't played in a collegiate dual match. Tarr will complement his first-year players with several key returnees. Senior Johannes Spangenberg, along with sophomores Alex Emery and Thomas Petrich, are UAB's most experienced returning players.
"I feel like we are really deep this year," said Tarr, "and I hope it will help us when we play teams like the Mississippi State team we will play Sunday." Tarr says his team can't overlook Friday's opening match against North Alabama, though. "Playing North Alabama is going to be a good opener for us," said Tarr. "I've heard they have some new players that have helped them at the top of their lineup, so this is a good match for us to start the season with."
Tarr is closing in on his 300th career victory for the Blazers as he enters the season with a record of 296-143 at UAB.
