The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Tennis Opens Fall Schedule At Middle Tennessee Tourney
9/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 22, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB men's team will open its 2011 fall schedule this weekend when the Blazers travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn. to play in the Middle Tennessee Hidden Dual.
The event is set up much as a dual match format, but the matches will not count toward a school's team record.
UAB will be joined in the three-day event that begins on Friday by host MTSU, Conference USA foe Memphis and Southern Illinois.
The tournament starts on Friday at 10:00 a.m. with doubles competition followed by singles at 2:30 p.m. Middle Tennessee opens against SIU, while Memphis will take on UAB. The teams will play the same schedule on Saturday, with the Blue Raiders facing the Blazers and Tigers playing the Salukis.
The tournament will conclude Sunday with doubles play starting at 9:00 a.m. and concluding with singles at 1:30 p.m. MTSU closes against Memphis while SIU and UAB will square off in the Blazers' final action of the weekend.
Blazers' head coach Derek Tarr will welcome back eight letterwinners from last year's team, including 2010 All-Conference USA performers Danny Manlow and David Zimmerman.
"We've had some good, intense practices," said Tarr. "We've had some twice a day practices and that has given us more time on the court. In the past, we have generally done conditioning totally in the morning and then get on the courts in the afternoon.
"This fall, we have had 30 minutes or so of conditioning in the morning, and the rest of the time on the court. It has worked out well, especially while the weather has been good."
Tarr said he's looking forward to seeing his players see a lot of court time this weekend. "The good thing about this tournament and the format is that the guys are guaranteed to play at least three singles and three doubles matches," he said. "We should get some good competition."
