April 28, 2009

2009 NCAA Tournament Bracket

Greenville, S.C. -- The 59th-ranked Furman men's tennis team will challenge No. 14 Alabama in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Tournament on Friday, May 8 at 6 p.m. (EST) at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.

"We are very excited about our opportunity to compete in the NCAA Tournament," commented Furman head coach Paul Scarpa after the pairings were announced on Tuesday. "I have a lot of respect for (Alabama head coach) Billy Pate and how he has developed that program. We've played Alabama in each of the last two years and the matches have been close. This time we will be competing against one another on an outdoor surface which will be a new experience for us both."

Furman and Alabama met in late January this year with the Crimson Tide coming away with a hard-fought 5-2 victory. The Paladins earned the doubles point in the match before the Tide came out on top in five of the six singles matches to take the win. In the 14 total meetings between the two schools, Alabama holds a 13-1 all-time advantage against Furman.

The Paladins, 22-7 on the season, are coming off a victory over No. 67 Elon in the championship match of the Southern Conference Tournament. Furman has won back-to-back SoCon Tournament titles, earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for two consecutive years. The Paladins are unbeaten over their last 15 matches.

Alabama (20-7) was ousted in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament last weekend, suffering a 4-3 loss to No. 10 Florida. The Crimson Tide boasts a top-30 doubles pair in No. 26 Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau, which should set up an exciting doubles bout at number one when they face off against Furman's No. 64 Andy Juc and Bo Ladyman. Juc will also get the chance to avenge his loss to Alabama's Saketh Myneni at the top singles spot. Myneni is ranked No. 22 in the country and owns an 18-10 record. Juc, ranked No. 106 in the country, is 18-7 and has won his last four matches.