BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (January 25, 2024) – The University of North Alabama men's tennis team prepares for two duals as they travel to Birmingham to face Samford Friday before hosting UAB in Florence on Monday afternoon.
The Lions are set for their second and third outing of the season after falling at Ole Miss on Jan. 15 in Mississippi. The Samford dual will take place at the Pat M. Courington Tennis Pavilion with first serve at 2 p.m.
North Alabama will then meet UAB on Monday at the UNA Tennis Courts on Hermitage Drive, beginning at 1 p.m.
Live streaming will be provided throughout for both duals here, while live stats will be provided for the home dual against UAB. Full results and a recap will be posted on RoarLions.com following the action.
MATCH 1
North Alabama at Samford
Friday, January 26, 2024
2 p.m.
MATCH 2
North Alabama vs. UAB
Monday, January 29, 2024
1 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch
SCOUTING THE LIONS: North Alabama looks to get into the win column for the first time this season in matchups against in-state schools, Samford and UAB. Last time out against Ole Miss, the Lions took three singles matches to a third set, but the Rebels were able to come out victorious with a shutout win.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Samford enters Friday's matchup with a 0-3 record. In their previous dual, the Bulldogs lost to Georgia Tech on the road, 7-0. Junior J.B. Pickard has one win in singles this season for the Samford, defeating Juan Accossatto of South Alabama 3-6, 7-6, 1-0. Samford is led by third year coach Oliver Reynolds.
SCOUTING THE BLAZERS: UAB prepares for their third dual of the year with a 0-2 record. The Blazers hunt their first win of the season after defeats to Memphis and SMU. Junior Georgios Nouchakis picked up the first singles win for the Blazers with a 7-6, 7-6 win over Mika Berghaus of Memphis. UAB is coached by Ezequiel Gils in his first year.
LAST TIME OUT: North Alabama was defeated by both the Bulldogs and the Blazers in the last meetings. Both meetings came in the Spring 2023 season, as the Lions fell to Samford 5-2 on Feb. 5 and UAB 6-1 on Feb. 10. Junior Nazar Fedoryshyn earned the win against UAB's Thanos Spyropoulos in last season's No. 4 seed battle, while risings sophomore Lachlan Brain had one of the two singles wins last season as the No. 2 against Samford.
FALL RECAP: North Alabama had a fall to remember, as the Lions won 23 matches to outplay Jacksonville State, Samford and Kennesaw State in the fall opener. UNA then totaled 15 wins at the Samford Hidden Dual and a milestone victory by Brain at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. Brain became the first individual at UNA to win an ITA All-American match at the Division I level. More wins were added at the ITA Southern Regionals in Auburn, the UTC Steve Baras Invite in Chattanooga, the CCB Collegiate Invite in Birmingham and the UNA Invitational at home in Florence.
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