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Men's Tennis Set for Alabama and Blue Gray National Tennis Classic
February 18, 2015 | Men's Tennis
Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Draw
Princeton's men's tennis team will take its 7-1 record and No. 50 national ranking to Montgomery, Alabama for the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Friday through Sunday.
This season is the second straight year that Princeton will compete in the event, which this year includes Mississippi State, Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, Texas Tech, Boise State and South Florida. Every team in the draw is ranked, and just as last year, the Tigers will be well challenged at the event.
“The Blue Gray is a high-level national event that we look forward to each year with great anticipation," Princeton head coach Billy Pate said. "The organization and hospitality for this event is unsurpassed and it's a great venue to play three outstanding nationally ranked teams in a tournament environment. The field is very challenging this year and we're excited to take on an SEC opponent in Mississippi State in the first round. We had a great match with them last year and I'm sure it will be a highly competitive match again. Making the transition from indoor tennis is a bit tricky for us, yet we are looking forward to getting outside this weekend.”
Princeton will open Friday at 3 p.m. ET with Pate's alma mater in Mississippi State, which was ranked No. 11 last year when it defeated the then 60th-ranked Tigers 4-2 in the event finale. Princeton opened with a 4-3 loss to No. 21 Clemson and followed that with a 4-0 loss to No. 36 Alabama.
Princeton started 6-0 this season for the first time since 1979 and bounced back from a 4-2 loss to 30th-ranked Harvard in the ECAC semifinal Sunday by beating No. 68 Brown 4-2 in the third-place match Monday.
Here are capsules on the Blue Gray field:
 Alabama |
 Auburn |
 Boise State |
 Clemson |
 Miss. State |
 Princeton |
 South Fla. (USF) |
 Texas Tech |
|
| Match Details | Saturday (Possible Opponent) | Sunday (Possible Opponent) | Sunday (Possible Opponent) |
Saturday (Possible Opponent) | Friday, 3 p.m. ET | Three matches, Fri.-Sun. | Sunday (Possible Opponent) | Sunday (Possible Opponent) |
| 2015 Dual-Match Record | 2-5 | 9-1 | 3-5 | 5-4 | 7-2 | 7-1 | 4-4 | 10-2 |
| ITA Team Ranking | 49 | 35 | 57 | 35 | 30 | 50 | 24 | 38 |
| ITA-Ranked Players | Korey Lovett/Becker O'Shaughnessey (29) | Lukas Ollert (79) Maxime Hinnisdaels (108) Marko Krickovic (116) |
None | Hunter Harrington (90) | Tassilo Schmid (84) Florian Lakat (97) Juan Cruz Estevarena (99) Julian Cash/Florian Lakat (33) Mate Cutura/Tassilo Schmid (48) |
Zack McCourt (117) | Roberto Cid (22) Roberto Cid/Sasha Gozun (9) Oliver Pramming/Justin Roberts (58) |
Felipe Soares (35) Hugo Dojas (111) Jolan Cailleau (125) Hugo Dojas/Felipe Soares (22) Connor Curry/Felipe Soares (59) |
| All-Time Series vs. Princeton | Alabama leads 3-0 | Auburn leads 1-0 | Have not met | Clemson leads 8-3 | Mississippi State leads 2-0 | USF leads 1-0 | Princeton leads 5-3 | |
| Last Meeting vs. Princeton | 2014 (Alabama won 4-0 at Montgomery, Ala.) | 1990 (Auburn won 7-2 at Irvine, Calif.) | None | 2014 (Clemson won 4-3 at Montgomery, Ala.) | 2014 (Miss. St. won 4-2 at Montgomery, Ala.) | 2010 (USF won 5-2 at USF) | 1995 (Princeton won 4-3 at Los Angeles, Calif.) |