Alabama Women's Tennis
Andie Daniell Named SEC Freshman Of The Year
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Erin Routliffe Is First Team All-SEC
Andie Daniell & Erin Routiffe Honored
Graphic/Photo Credit: RollTide.com
A pair of Alabama women's tennis who are no strangers to accolades have been honored once again. The Crimson Tide's Andie Daniell has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year for women’s tennis, while junior Erin Routliffe,
the league’s 2014 Co-Freshman of the Year, made her third consecutive
appearance on the first team. The SEC office made the announcement on
Wednesday. Daniell also earned Second Team All-SEC and All-Freshman Team
honors.
Daniell entered the fall ranked No. 7 in the Oracle/ITA Women’s
National Newcomer/Freshman rankings, and played at No. 1 and No. 2 singles
throughout the dual match season. She entered into the national
singles rankings in January, reaching a high of No. 31 in March. Daniell is
also ranked in doubles with Routliffe, with the pair reaching a high of No. 20.
Daniell leads the team with 20 singles wins throughout her freshman campaign. Nine of those wins have come against nationally-ranked opponents. Daniell was instrumental in sending Alabama to its fourth consecutive ITA National Team Indoor Championship as she went 2-0 in singles. In addition, she advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Southern Region Championships in singles and won the doubles championship with Routliffe.
Alabama head women's tennis coach Jenny Mainz said, "Andie is deserving of this distinguished recognition as she has battled at the top of our lineup as a true freshman. Andie’s drive to improve and her sheer determination really sets her apart. Andie has immediately impacted our program with her work ethic, competitive nature and her championship mentality."
Erin Routliffe has been outstanding in the UA tennis program, and is the fourth member of the Crimson Tide to earn first team honors in three consecutive seasons, following in the footsteps of Marouschka van Dijk (1993-95), Alexa Guarachi (2011-13) and Mary Anne Macfarlane (2011-13). She has been ranked throughout the season nationally in singles and doubles, reaching highs of No. 21 and No. 20, respectively. Routliffe has played all season at No. 1 doubles and floated between No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Routliffe led the Crimson Tide with nine singles victories against Southeastern Conference opponents and 17 wins overall in 2016. She won eight consecutive singles matches between February 21st to March 20th.
The two-time NCAA doubles champion won the national playoffs to earn a spot in the 2015 U.S. Open. The next month, she joined Daniell to win the ITA Southern Regional Doubles Championship.
Mainz said, "Erin has stepped up as a notable leader this spring. She’s raised the level of her game throughout the season and gave us a chance in every match. She embraced playing at the top in both singles and doubles and has done a commendable job of rallying the team."
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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Bama Baseball Hosts 3rd-Ranked Mississippi State
Graphics/Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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Bama Baseball Hosts 3rd-Ranked Mississippi State
Alabama Crimson Tide baseball welcomes the third-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs to Tuscaloosa for a three-game series beginning tonight. Tonight's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch and will air live on ESPNU. Tomorrow's contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT, and the Saturday finale will begin at 3 p.m. CT.
Tonight's contest will mark the 398th meeting between the Tide and Bulldogs. Bama leads the series 212-182-3, with a 142-89-3 mark at home.
Alabama plans to pitch a trio of right-handers against State. Junior Geoffrey Bramblett will lead off tonight, sophomore Jake Walters is on the mound tomorrow, and junior Nick Eicholtz will close out the series on Saturday.
Mississippi State will counter with junior righty Dakota Hudson on the mound tonight, junior right-hander Austin Sexton leads off on Friday and no word yet as to who will handle pitching duties for the Saturday finale.
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Alabama Football
Former Alabama Center Ryan Kelly Honored
Former Crimson Tide Center Ryan Kelly
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Former Alabama Crimson Tide center Ryan Kelly yesterday was named to the 2016 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society.
This is indeed a special group and a great honor. The NFF Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their colligiate career. This is the society's 10th year, and a total of 875 players from 278 schools qualified for membership, setting a new record for the number of schools represented in the history of the program, which began in 2007.
Kelly earned his undergraduate degree in 2014 and finished his masters degree in December of 2015 in marketing. The West Chester, Ohio, native was named to the Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2015. He was named to the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll three times, the SEC Freshman Honor Roll and the Dean’s list in both semesters of 2013. Kelly finished with a 3.75 grade point average in graduate school after completing his undergrad coursework with a 3.298 cumulative GPA.
Not only a scholar-athlete, Kelly was also regularly visiting local elementary schools, hospitals and Habitat for Humanity builds, found it important to give back to others. He also had a prominent role in the cleanup efforts immediately following the April 27, 2011, tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa.
Kelly was never on the short side of on-field honors. He received the 2015 Rimington Trophy – given annually to the nation’s top center, the SEC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy and consensus All-America honors as a senior.
NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell said, "The number of colleges and universities who embrace the Hampshire Honor Society continues to increase each year. Over the past decade, it has become a powerful vehicle for schools to recognize their college football players who have distinguished themselves both academically and athletically, and we congratulate the schools and each of these young men for their commitment to excellence."
The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF’s National
Scholar-Athlete program by greatly expanding the number of
scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year. The program further
strengthens the organization’s leadership role in encouraging academic
performance by the student-athletes who play football at the 775
colleges and universities with football programs nationwide. The
initiative has honored 6,627 student-athletes since its inception, and
the program has experienced growth every year in either members or
school participation since its launch in 2007.This is indeed a special group and a great honor. The NFF Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their colligiate career. This is the society's 10th year, and a total of 875 players from 278 schools qualified for membership, setting a new record for the number of schools represented in the history of the program, which began in 2007.
Kelly earned his undergraduate degree in 2014 and finished his masters degree in December of 2015 in marketing. The West Chester, Ohio, native was named to the Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2015. He was named to the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll three times, the SEC Freshman Honor Roll and the Dean’s list in both semesters of 2013. Kelly finished with a 3.75 grade point average in graduate school after completing his undergrad coursework with a 3.298 cumulative GPA.
Not only a scholar-athlete, Kelly was also regularly visiting local elementary schools, hospitals and Habitat for Humanity builds, found it important to give back to others. He also had a prominent role in the cleanup efforts immediately following the April 27, 2011, tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa.
Kelly was never on the short side of on-field honors. He received the 2015 Rimington Trophy – given annually to the nation’s top center, the SEC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy and consensus All-America honors as a senior.
NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell said, "The number of colleges and universities who embrace the Hampshire Honor Society continues to increase each year. Over the past decade, it has become a powerful vehicle for schools to recognize their college football players who have distinguished themselves both academically and athletically, and we congratulate the schools and each of these young men for their commitment to excellence."
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Alabama Men's Basketball
Former Tide Forward Michael Kessens To FIU
Former Bama Basketball's Michael Kessens
Photo Credit: AP.org
The Alabama basketball team lost two players via transfer at the close of the most recent basketball season. Guard Justin Coleman recently transferred to Samford, and yesterday forward Michael Kessens announced via Twitter that he is going to FIU.
Kessens' tweet read:
Decided to attend FIU next year! Thanks everybody for their support during this process! pic.twitter.com/dEtI4pFNHk— Michael Kessens (@MikeDoubleK) April 27, 2016
Kessens is scheduled to graduate from UA in May, and will be eligible to play immediately as a graduate transfer. Prior to coming to Alabama in 2013, the 6-foot-9, 230-pound Kessens began his college career at Longwood.
Kessens was used extensively the past two seasons, starting 31 games the last two seasons, including 21 as a redshirt junior last year. Last season the young man averaged 3.7 points and 3.5 rebounds while playing 16.6 minutes per game.
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Quarterback Prospect Tua Tagovailoa Making Decision Soon
Alabama QB prospect Tua Tagovailoa
Photo Credit: 247Sports
Just recently 6-foot-1, 210-pound Tua Tagovailoa made a trip to visit the University of Alabama with his father. Of course, it was not just Alabama, but the Capstone got his attention.
Tagovailoa recently said that Alabama, Ole Miss Texas A&M, USC, UCLA and Hawaii are his top six schools with whom he is considering playing college football.
He is the No. 60 overall prospect for the class of 2017 according to 247Sports composite rankings. Tagovailoa is also the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the class.
The announcement of the school of choice for Tagovailoa is scheduled for approximately 11 p.m. CT, 6 p.m. local time for the young man. Currently it is believed that the Crimson Tide is in the lead for the young man's services.
Tagovailoa passed for 2,583 yards, 33 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He also rushed for 576 yards as a junior this past season.
These five will join the seven signed from the fall. Those seven are: Gabriella Crawford (Milton Keynes, UK), Sydney Boles (Maryville, Tennessee), Peyton Cowell (San Diego, California), Kylie Diffley (New Berlin, Wisconsin), Sarah Giuliani (Brightwaters, New York), Arielle Schafer (Egg Harbor, New Jersey) and Ariana Sweany (Vacaville, California).
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Alabama Rowing Adds 5 During Spring Signing
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Five rowers have been added to the Alabama Rowing team during the spring signing period and will be joining the Crimson Tide for the 2016-17 season. This brings a total of 12 added to the squad including the seven signed back in the fall. The program is set to welcome "one of the most well-rounded classes" in the history of Alabama Rowing.
Alabama Rowing head coach Larry Davis said, "This signing group helps round out and balance out one of our strongest classes we’ve ever signed. The athletes we signed in the fall have already showed great
improvement since we signed them and we hope that this group shows
similar progress so that when they arrive in the fall, they will have an
immediate impact on our competitive ability. It is the strongest
overall group that we’ve had in program history. We are excited to see
what they can do to help us move forward as a team."
Those just signed in the spring signing class includes Elle Anderson (Winter Park,
Florida), Hunter James (Cary, North Carolina), Elaine Schutte (Cincinnati, Ohio),
Katie Toth (Providence, Rhode Island) and Sophia Yurosek (Clyde Hill, Washington).
These five will join the seven signed from the fall. Those seven are: Gabriella Crawford (Milton Keynes, UK), Sydney Boles (Maryville, Tennessee), Peyton Cowell (San Diego, California), Kylie Diffley (New Berlin, Wisconsin), Sarah Giuliani (Brightwaters, New York), Arielle Schafer (Egg Harbor, New Jersey) and Ariana Sweany (Vacaville, California).
