HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — After starting the 2012 season 0-5, the WKU men's tennis team responded with four wins in five days during a road trip through the state of Alabama against four different teams.

The trip marked the eighth-straight season that WKU has traveled to Alabama during the university's spring break period. The road swing has historically been kind to the Hilltoppers, as WKU improves its record during the eight-year span to 22-7, including winning four or more matches on the trip twice.

The Hilltoppers opened and closed the trip with wins over Alabama A&M, as WKU picked up 6-1 wins on both Monday and Friday. The Hilltoppers held on for a 4-3 win over North Alabama on Tuesday, before dropping their only match of the trip on Wednesday to Alabama-Huntsville, 4-3. WKU would respond to close out the road swing with back-to-back wins on Thursday and Friday, defeating Alabama State and Alabama A&M, 6-1.

Sophomore Josh Smith carried over his momentum from a singles win over Detroit, winning all five singles on the Alabama road trip, with all coming from the No. 1 singles spot. Smith has now won six singles in a row, moving his overall record in 2012 to 5-2 from the No. 1 position. WKU only managed one win from the No. 1 singles position in all of 2011 and haven't had a player win six in a row from the No. 1 position since Thomas Krug accomplished that feat in 2010.

Smith and teammate Arul Selvan also went 2-2 in doubles, helping WKU win 10 of the 15 doubles during the trip.

Selvan also stood out in singles play, as the senior went 4-1, including a 3-1 mark from the No. 2 singles position. 

In all, the Hilltoppers had three different players record four or more singles wins on the trip. Freshman Andrew Fish went a perfect 3-0 from the No. 5 singles spot and finished the trip 4-1 overall. Fish also picked up three doubles wins, including a pair of wins with teammate Kaleb Ball. Ball also went a perfect 1-0 in singles play.

Freshman Brody Freeman, who managed to play from four different singles positions during the week, turned in a 3-2 overall record, including 1-0 marks from both the No. 4 and the No. 5 singles spots. Freeman also teamed with his cousin, Lance Freeman, as the duo went a perfect 5-0 in doubles play to lead all Hilltoppers.

Lance Freeman also picked up a pair of singles wins, including one win from the No. 2 spot in the WKU lineup.

In all, the Hilltoppers went 22-8 in singles play during the five-day trip after entering play on Monday with just a 4-26 record in singles. WKU now has a .500 or better record in four of the six singles categories in 2012.

The Hilltoppers will return to action on March 25 with a road contest against Tennessee State.

Singles competition 

1. Josh Smith (WKUM) def. Desta Sandy (AAM) 7-5, 6-3 

2. Arul Selvan (WKUM) def. Dominique Alexander (AAM) 8-5 

3. Lance Freeman (WKUM) def. Adres Veliz (AAM) 7-5, 6-4 

4. Nicholas Burger (AAM) def. Brody Freeman (WKUM) 6-0, 6-7, 10-5 

5. Andrew Fish (WKUM) def. E. Brown (AAM) 6-1, 6-0 

6. Robert Whitmer (WKUM) def. Jackie Stephens (AAM) 6-1, 6-1 

Doubles competition 

1. Desta Sandy/Dominique Alexander (AAM) def. Josh Smith/Arul Selvan (WKUM) 8-5 

2. Lance Freeman/Brody Freeman (WKUM) def. Nicholas Burger/Adres Veliz (AAM) 8-6 

3. Andrew Fish/Kaleb Ball (WKUM) def. William Law/E. Brown (AAM) 8-1 

1. Josh Smith (WKUM) def. BRAND, Bobby (ASU) 7-6, 6-3 

2. Arul Selvan (WKUM) def. PIERRE, Lex (ASU) 7-5, 6-1 

3. VOJNIC, Stefan (ASU) def. Andrew Fish (WKUM) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6

4. Lance Freeman (WKUM) def. IVORY, Roddrick (ASU) 6-0, 6-2 

5. Brody Freeman (WKUM) def. FREEMAN, Jonathan (ASU) 6-1, 6-1 

6. Kaleb Ball (WKUM) def. HALEY, Kenneth (ASU) 6-0, 6-4

1. Josh Smith/Arul Selvan (WKUM) def. BRAND, Bobby/PIERRE, Lex (ASU) 8-5 

2. Lance Freeman/Brody Freeman (WKUM) def. IVORY, Roddrick/VOJNIC, Stefan (ASU) 8-2 

3. Andrew Fish/Kaleb Ball (WKUM) def. HALEY, Kenneth/FREEMAN, Jonathan (ASU) 8-2

Singles competition 

1. Josh Smith (WKUM) def. Christopher Kano (UAH) 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 

2. Arul Selvan (WKUM) def. Daniel Canellas (UAH) 7-6, 6-2 

3. Raphael Oliveira (UAH) def. Lance Freeman (WKUM) 6-1, 6-4 

4. Bruno Medeiros (UAH) def. Robert Whitmer (WKUM) 6-0, 6-2 

5. Andrew Fish (WKUM) def. Guillermo Reyes (UAH) 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 

6. Marcos Rivera (UAH) def. Brody Freeman (WKUM) 6-3, 6-4 

Doubles competition 

1. Daniel Canellas/Raphael Oliveira (UAH) def. Robert Whitmer/Andrew Fish (WKUM) 8-2 

2. Christopher Kano/Thales Castro (UAH) def. Josh Smith/Kaleb Ball (WKUM) 8-2 

3. Lance Freeman/Brody Freeman (WKUM) def. Marcos Rivera/Guillermo Reyes (UAH) 8-6 

1. Josh Smith (WKUM) def. Constantin Witten (UNA) 6-4, 6-2 

2. Matt Feury (UNA) def. Arul Selvan (WKUM) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 

3. Alexey Kavalenka (UNA) def. Lance Freeman (WKUM) 7-5, 6-3 

4. Mirko Sommerfeld (UNA) def. Robert Whitmer (WKUM) 6-1, 6-0 

5. Andrew Fish (WKUM) def. Rob Whitsitt (UNA) 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 

6. Brody Freeman (WKUM) def. Jonathan Vick (UNA) 6-4, 6-2 

1. Matt Feury/Alexey Kavalenka (UNA) def. Josh Smith/Arul Selvan (WKUM) 8-3 

2. Robert Whitmer/Andrew Fish (WKUM) def. Constantin Witten/Rob Whitsitt (UNA) 8-5 

3. Lance Freeman/Brody Freeman (WKUM) def. Mirko Sommerfeld/Jonathan Vick (UNA) 8-2 

1. Josh Smith (WKUM) def. Desta Sandy (AAM) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 

2. Lance Freeman (WKUM) def. Dominique Alexander (AAM) 6-3, 6-3 

3. Adres Veliz (AAM) def. Brody Freeman (WKUM) 7-5, 6-2 

4. Andrew Fish (WKUM) def. Nicholas Burger (AAM) 6-2, 6-7, 10-8 

5. Robert Whitmer (WKUM) def. E. Brown (AAM) 6-2, 6-2 

6. Arul Selvan (WKUM) def. Jackie Stephens (AAM) 6-0, 6-1 

Doubles competition 

1. Desta Sandy/Dominique Alexander (AAM) def. J.T. Closi/Andrew Fish (WKUM), by default 

2. Lance Freeman/Brody Freeman (WKUM) def. Adres Veliz/Nicholas Burger (AAM) 8-5 

3. Josh Smith/Arul Selvan (WKUM) def. E. Brown/Jackie Stephens (AAM) 8-1