March 31, 2006
Columbia, S.C. - The No. 48 Auburn men's tennis team battled with No. 58 South Carolina on Friday afternoon at the Sam Daniel Tennis Facility in Columbia, S.C. The Tigers dropped the doubles point but rebounded back in singles but the Gamecocks prevailed, winning 4-3, as AU moves to 11-6, 3-4 SEC. USC improves to 10-11, 2-5 in league play.
The Gamecocks got out to an early lead taking the doubles point with victories on courts one and three. USC's Tom Eklund and Pedro Rodigues got past Auburn's Alex Schweizer and Milan Krnjetin, 8-3, at No. 1 doubles. An 8-6 win by Robbert Lathouwers and Lukas Marsoun against Carolina's Jaime Cuellar and Yevgeny Supeko set up the No. 3 doubles match as the deciding match for the point. After falling behind, 3-4, Joseph Veeder and Thomas Stoddard rallied to claim an 8-5 victory over Nick Lane and Pawel Dilaj.
Up 1-0 after doubles play, the Gamecocks pushed ahead 2-0 after Supeko picked up a straight-set win over Krnjetin, 6-4, 6-2, at No, 4 singles. Auburn pulled within one after Schweizer cruised past Eklund at the No.1 spot, 6-4, 7-5. USC"s Cuellar pushed the lead to 3-1 at the No. 2 spot, defeating Lathouwers, 7-6 (5), 6-0.
With three matches still be contested, South Carolina only needed one win to clinch the overall victory and they got it from Rodrigues at the No. 3 spot. Rodrigues won the initial set, 6-4, but played from behind much of the second. He battled to send the set into a tiebreaker and defeated Lane, 7-6 (6).
Auburn rolled to three-set victories at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots from Dilaj and Marsoun, respectively. At No. 6 singles, Carolina's Adam Adler retired while trailing Marsoun, 4-6, 6-3, 5-3. Stoddard forced a third set against Dilaj before falling, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, at the No. 5 spot.
The Tigers continue conference play on the road Sunday, April 2, at No. 12 Florida. Action is set to begin at 12 p.m. in Gainesville, Fla., at the Ring Tennis Complex.
Singles
1. Alex Schweizer (AU) def. Tom Eklund (USC), 6-4, 7-5
2. Jaime Cuellar (USC) def. Robbert Lathouwers (AU), 7-6 (5), 6-0
3. Pedro Rodigues (USC) def. Nick Lane (AU), 6-4, 7-6 (6)
4. Yevgeny Supeko (USC) def. Milan Krnjetin (AU), 6-4, 6-2
5. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Thomas Stoddard (USC), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
6. Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Adam Adler (USC), 4-6, 6-3, 5-3 (DNF)
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 2, 3, 6, 5
Doubles
1. Tom Eklund/Pedro Rodigues (USC) def. Milan Krnjetin/Alex Schweizer (AU), 8-3
2. Robbert Latouwers/Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Jaime Cuellar/Yevgeny Supeko (USC), 8-6
3. Joseph Veeder/Thomas Stoddard (USC) def. Nick Lane/Pawel Dilaj (AU), 8-5.
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3