The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Furman
Blazers Split Pair Of Matches At Seminole Quad
1/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 21, 2012
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ----- The UAB men's tennis team opened its 2012 dual match season Saturday by splitting a pair of matches at the Seminole Quad hosted by Florida State University.
After a morning fog delayed the start of play at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center, the Blazers (1-1) defeated Furman, 4-1, before falling to the 44th-ranked host Seminoles, 6-1, later in the afternoon.
In winning over the Paladins, UAB claimed the doubles point by winning at the No. 2 and 3 positions. Danny Manlow and Daniel Moser gave the Blazers an early advantage with their 8-2 win at the No. 2 spot over Nate Collins and Joel Cook.
Furman's Andrew Mellow and Jacob Behal quickly pulled Furman (0-2) even with an 8-6 victory at the top position over Tom Puetz and David Zimmerman.
Blazer sophomores Lucas Dirube and Chris Helliar clinched the doubles point with a hard-fought 9-8 (5) decision at No. 3 over Furman's Tyler Droll and Watson George.
Manlow and Moser gave UAB a commanding 3-0 lead with straight set singles wins at the No. 2 and 4 positions, respectively. Manlow disposed of Cook by a 6-2, 6-4 while Moser defeated Robbie Aru by the same score at No. 4.
Mellow got the Paladins on the board by outlasting Zimmerman at No. 1 singles, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5. Helliar then clinched the match for UAB as he rallied at No. 3 singles for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Behal.
The matches at No. 5 and No. 6 singles were suspended once UAB had secured the match. At the time, both were in the third set with Droll leading the Blazers' Dirube, 7-6, 3-6, 2-1, at No. 5 while UAB's Tom Puetz and Ryan Miller were deadlocked at 1-6, 6-3, 5-5 with Puetz claiming the opening set.
UAB ran into a much stiffer challenge in its match later in the day against nationally-ranked Florida State (4-0) on the Seminoles' home courts.
The Seminoles swept the doubles play to take an early 1-0 lead. Dominic Cotone and Anderson Reed were 8-4 winners at No. 2 doubles over Manlow and Moser for the first win while Blake Davis and Jordan Kelly-Houston won at No. 1, 8-4.
The Seminoles' Andres Bucaro and Benjamin Lock duo closed out the doubles by edging the UAB tandem of Dirube and Helliar, 8-7 (6).
In singles, FSU's Cottone and Reed gave their team a 3-0 advantage at the No. 5 and 4 singles positions. Cottone downed UAB's Driube, 6-2, 6-0, with Reed taking a 6-1, 6-3 win over Moser.
UAB posted its only victory in the match with a win at No. 2 by Zimmerman as the junior defeated Davis, 6-3, 6-1. Lock clinched the match for Florida State with his 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles over James Gardner.
The Seminoles captured their fifth and sixth team points with wins at No. 3 and 1 singles. Cristian Gonzalez-Mendez defeated UAB's Helliar, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 3 while Kelly-Houston edged past Manlow at the top spot, 7-6 (7), 6-3.
The Blazers will next be in action Wednesday, Feb. 1 when they play host to North Alabama in a 1:00 p.m. CT match.
