Feb. 10, 2008
AUBURN - Playing for more than three-and-a-half hours, Auburn's Alex Petropoulos and Arizona State's T.J. Bellama found themselves as the last singles match on the court, making in the match-decider as each team had scored three points.
The pair battled through tie breakers in all three sets, but it was ASU's Bellama coming away with the 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2) win in No. 5 singles to give the 44th-ranked Sun Devils the 4-3 win over No. 31 Auburn. Petropoulos was down 5-2 early in the third set, but rallied back to force the set to a tiebreaker point before Bellama came away with the win.
The loss is Auburn's first of the season as the Tigers fall to 2-1 on the season. The four points scored by Arizona State are the first points given up by Auburn this season as the Tigers swept their first two opponents. Arizona State improves to 3-0 on the season.
"We gave it everything we had and we fought hard really today," said head coach Eric Shore. "But, we just need to move forward, take some things from the loss and we will get ours in the end."
Close matches are nothing new in this rivalry as six of the last seven matches between the teams have been decided by a 4-3 margin.
"It seems to always be close, it is a great match every time we play Arizona State," said Shore. "We had the exact same thing three years ago when we played them. It came down to a tiebreaker in the third set of the last match and we lost. But, you learn from that and that team went on to have a very good year, made the NCAA Tournament and I think this team can do the same."
Auburn took the early lead in the match, winning two of the three doubles matches to take the 1-0 lead.
Pawel Dilaj and Petropoulos teamed up in No. 3 doubles to defeat Juan Carlos Rebaza and Andres Arango, 8-3, while freshman Tim Puetz and Lukas Marsoun beat Wes Miller and John Nonosky II, 8-2.
The lone doubles win for ASU came as Bellama teamed up with Matt Brooklyn to take an 8-7 (4) win over Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent in No. 1 doubles.
Auburn quickly extended that lead as Puetz improved to 3-0 on the season with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Rebaza in No. 3 singles. Brooklyn then put ASU's first point on the board as he defeated Tsyrenov, 7-5, 6-2, in No. 1 singles.
Dilaj then put Auburn on the brink of victory as he defeated Miller, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in No. 4 singles to give Auburn a 3-1 lead.
However, that would be the last point scored for Auburn as the Sun Devils Rallied in the final three singles matches to take the 4-3 win.
Nonosky got the run started by defeating Auburn's Nugent, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in No. 6 singles and was followed by Arango with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Marsoun in No. 2 singles, setting up the showdown for Bellama and Petropoulos for the final point.
"After the doubles matches, I was really impressed. I thought we were very focused and came out in singles and continued with the momentum, winning five first sets," said Shore. "You've got to give Arizona State credit for coming back to win the match after that. You also have to give Alex Petropoulos credit after going down 5-2 in the final set, coming back to force a tiebreaker."
The Tigers return to action on Thursday with the team's first road match of the season with a 2 p.m. ET matchup at No. 41 Georgia Tech (5-0). Auburn returns home on Sunday, Feb. 17 with a 1 p.m. CT match against No. 25 Tulsa.
Tennis Match Results
Arizona State vs Auburn
Feb 10, 2008 at Auburn, Ala.
#44 Arizona State 4, #31 Auburn 3
Singles competition
1. Matt Brooklyn (ASU) def. Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) 7-5, 6-2
2. Andres Arango (ASU) def. Lukas Marsoun (AU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Tim Puetz (AU) def. Juan Carlos Rebaza (ASU) 7-5, 6-2
4. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Wes Miller (ASU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
5. T.J. Bellama (ASU) def. Alex Petropoulos (AU) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-2)
6. John Nanosky II (ASU) def. Terence Nugent (AU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Matt Brooklyn/T.J. Bellama (ASU) def. Alexey Tsyrenov/Terence Nugent (AU) 8-7 (7-4)
2. Tim Puetz/Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Wes Miller/John Nanosky II (ASU) 8-2
3. Pawel Dilaj/Alex Petropoulos (AU) def. Juan Carlos Rebaza/Andres Arango (ASU) 8-3
Match Notes:
Arizona State 3-0; National ranking #44
Auburn 2-1; National ranking #31
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,1,4,6,2,5)
Official: Ken Smith T-4:37 A-133