Next Match: at Mississippi State 3/14/2019 | 1 p.m. CT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 17 Alabama men's team earned its first Southeastern Conference road match victory at Vanderbilt, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon at the Currey Tennis Center. With the win, the Crimson Tide moves up to 12-4 overall and 2-2 in SEC play, while the 26th-ranked Commodores fall to 12-5 and 2-3 in the conference.

"Our team's response today, after a rough night indoors at Kentucky, was remarkable," said UA head coach George Husack . "They competed with purpose, driven execution, and were willing to embrace the battle. It brought the best out of them. I'm very proud of their commitment and this full team effort. Since 2016 we've had 15 rounds of heavyweight action every time with Vanderbilt. Each match has gone the distance and the Commodores had prevailed. They are well coached, disciplined and very tough."

The Commodores took an early lead over the Crimson Tide, securing the first doubles match on Court 2. Junior Alexey Nesterov and sophomore Riccardo Roberto responded by picking up a 6-4 win over Freeman and Worst, while the No. 17-ranked doubles pair senior Mazen Osama and sophomore Patrick Kaukovalta defeated Klinger/Rowe, 6-4, to give Alabama a head start in doubles action.

Starting strong for Alabama in singles, sophomore Jeremy Gschwendtner achieved a straight-set victory over Marcus Ferreira, 6-0, 6-1, on Court 6. Vanderbilt found the scoreboard as Billy Rowe defeated junior Zhe Zhou , 6-3, 6-4, and Kaukovalta was unable to pull off the comeback, falling to Macsen Sisam 6-1, 5-7, 6-3, to tie the score at 2-2.

Pushing the Tide into the lead over the Commodores, junior Edson Ortiz wrapped up a three-set victory over George Harwell, dominating in the third-set to earn a 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 win.

After falling short in the first set, 3-6, against Panu Virtanen, Roberto fought by earning a 7-6 comeback in the second set. Maintaining a successful run in the third set, Roberto clinched the match for the Tide defeating Virtanen 6-2.

Once Alabama secured the victory, the teams agreed to complete all six singles matchups. No. 36 Osama defeated Cam Klinger 5-7, 7-6, 7-5 to give the Tide a 5-2 advantage.

The Crimson Tide look to tally another SEC road victory on Thursday, March 14 at Mississippi State. The match is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. CT.

Alabama Results

Doubles

1. No. 17 Kaukovalta/Osama (Ala) def. Klinger/Rowe, 6-4

2. Roberto/Nesterov (Ala) def. Freeman/Worst, 6-4

3. Sraberg/Harwell (VU) def. Ortiz/Zhou, 6-2

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles

1. No. 36 Osama (Ala) def. Klinger, 5-7, 7-6, 7-5

2. Ortiz (Ala) def. Harwell, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1

3. Sisam (VU) def. Kaukovalta, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3

4. Rowe (VU) def. Zhou, 6-3, 6-4

5. Roberto (Ala) def. Virtanen, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2

6. Gschwendtner (Ala) def. Ferreira, 6-0, 6-1

Order of finish: 6, 4, 3, 2, 5, 1

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