Jan. 31, 2002

BIRMINGHAM - The UAB men's and women's tennis teams will open their spring season this weekend. The men will travel to Mississippi State Saturday and the women will host Troy State on Sunday.

The Lady Blazers excelled like no UAB team before them last season. For the first time in history, the Blazers started the season with sixteen wins in a row before falling to 48th-ranked Mississippi State. The Blazers continued their stellar play winning five more matches, falling only to two more teams. UAB went 21-3 overall and 8-1 in C-USA. Against nationally ranked teams, the Blazers went 4-3, defeating Illinois-Chicago (#73), Central Florida (#51), Auburn (#67) and MTSU (#61). All three losses for the Blazers came against ranked teams. UAB ranked as high as #46 on the ITA Rankings.

Troy State will also open up their spring season with UAB. Last time out, the Blazers defeated Troy State 6-1 in Birmingham. The Blazers will host Troy State at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday at the Brook Highland Racquet Club.

The Blazer men's team will take on 14th-ranked Mississippi State (1-1) to open their spring season. In 2001, the Blazers finished 5-12 overall and 1-3 in C-USA play. Match time is set for 2 p.m. at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Center. Blazer fans can catch the match live on the internet at http://www.mstateathletics.com/ten/mten/livestats.