The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Tennis Heads West For Eight-Team Tourney
3/20/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 20, 2013
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB men's tennis team, back in the ITA national rankings for the first time since early in the season, is on the west coast this week as the Blazers take part in the Hilton San Diego Spring Valley Spring Classic.
The Blazers (12-7) are one of seven ranked teams in the eight-team field for the three-day tournament that will be held at San Diego State and the University of San Diego. The event begins Thursday, March 21 and runs through Saturday, March 23.
Joining UAB in the tournament are No. 20 Drake, No. 23 Harvard, No. 37 San Diego State, No. 38 San Diego, No. 44 Memphis, No. 72 Oklahoma State and Denver.
The Blazers are ranked No. 73 nationally in this week's ITA Rankings after winning 10 of their last 11 dual matches, including a 4-2 win over No. 75 Georgia State in their most recent action.
UAB will play its first match on Thursday when it takes on 23rd-ranked Harvard. The Crimson comes to the tournament with a record of 9-4 and ranked as high as No. 17 in the country just two weeks ago. The Blazers will play Harvard at the Aztec Tennis Center on the San Diego State campus.
The winner of the UAB/Harvard match will play the winner of San Diego State (11-4) and Oklahoma State (7-5) on Friday.
Senior David Zimmerman will lead the Blazers into the event. Zimmerman has won 11 consecutive singles matches at the No. 1 position and has improved his season record to 13-5.
The highest-ranked team in the Hilton San Diego Spring Valley Spring Classic is No. 20 Drake, coached by former UAB assistant coach Davidson Kozlowski.
