The women’s tennis team is set to host the Roberta Alison Fall Classic this weekend. The Crimson Tide will face Kentucky, Mississippi State, UAB, Samford, the University of Tennessee at Martin, Baylor, Tulane, Memphis and Georgia State.

The classic will be held at the Alabama Tennis Stadium Friday through Sunday.

            Only the women’s team will compete in the tournament. The men will play in the Wilson/ITA Southern Regional Championships.

The Tide has already been to two tournaments this season. In last weekend’s tournament, the Duke Tennis Fall Invitational, Alabama gave a strong performance, collecting 12 wins.

“I was very pleased with our performance,” head coach Jenny Mainz said. “We competed well throughout the weekend. I thought we showed a lot of consistency with the way we competed.”

The Fall Classic is the first home game the Tide will host this season.

“We are really looking forward to playing at home, in front of our fans,” Mainz said. “This will be a chance for us to showcase our beautiful campus and first-class facilities.”

This weekend’s tournament will be a flighted tournament, where each draw will consist of eight players. Each player is guaranteed three singles and three doubles matches.

Mainz said the Tide has worked hard in practice this week and is ready for this weekend’s tournament, and that Alabama has competed well and made improvements on playing consistently.

“We want our players to play to their strengths,” Mainz said. “Specifically, we are working on doing the right things under pressure.”

The tournament is named after Roberta Alison, who played tennis for the University on the men’s tennis team during the sixties. She was a pioneer for women’s rights in sports.

Jason Morton, the men’s tennis coach at Alabama at the time, found Alison training in preparation for the U.S. National Championship (now the U.S. Open). Alison’s admission to the team was the first official move toward allowing women to participate in varsity athletics in the Southeastern Conference.

In her last two years at the University, Alison played in the No. 1 spot.

“It is important to respect Alison’s courage, determination and grace,” Mainz said. “She provided lots of opportunities for women.”