By outreach@cw.ua.edu (Tyler Waldrep)
Success hasn’t made senior Becker O’Shaughnessey complacent- if anything it’s made him hungrier.
“Every year I’ve lost its always been a really close match and its always bugged me,” O’Shaughnessey said. “I haven’t achieved what I wanted to achieve, but hopefully this year will be different.”
This weekend O’Shaughnessey and the rest of the men’s tennis team is hosting the USTA/ITA Southern Regional Championships. Alabama also hosted the tournament in 2013. SEC opponents in town for the tournament include Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
Coach George Husack said hosting the event allows his team to continue its regular routines. The winner of the tournament earns a bid to compete in the individual national championships in New York.
“There’s a big carrot at the end,” Husack said. “For me if guys win that’s great I’m very happy for them. I think it says it’s a statement about the quality of our players and what we’re accomplishing.”
O’Shaughnessey has had success in this tournament before. He lost in the semi-finals his freshman year, and he made it to the quarter finals in his last two appearances.
“[Winning would be] a huge honor, [and] tons of guys are fighting for that,” he said.
O’Shaughnessey won his first match of the tournament Thursday. He will compete again on Friday morning.
Husack said preparation will be important this weekend. How a guy handles his free time in between matches could decide if he wins or loses.
“Whether they win or lose I just really want them to get a lot of great matches this weekend and really continue their progress in the fall because it’s all going to prepare them for the spring season,” Husack said.
Source:: The Crimson White Sports
