April 6, 2008
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The 26th-ranked Auburn men's tennis team broke a four-match losing streak Sunday as the Tigers defeated No. 57 South Carolina, 4-3, in Columbia. The win is Auburn's first road win in the SEC this season and its first 4-3 victory since beating LSU on March 2.
Auburn evens up its overall record at 10-10 on the season and improves to 4-6 in the SEC. The Gamecocks fall to 9-10, 1-8 in conference play. The Tigers wrap up their regular season on Saturday, March 12 with a 5 p.m. match against Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
"We needed this win in the worst way and we did a couple things that we had not been able to do recently and that is win the doubles, win at the bottom of the lineup and win on the road," said head coach Eric Shore. "I thought that we have been in a bit of a hangover since that loss to Tennessee. We have played some good teams since then, we just had not had our best effort."
Auburn jumped out to the early lead in the match after winning the doubles point, but had to battle from behind as South Carolina jumped out and won the first three singles matches, putting the Gamecocks one point away from the win.
"We lost five first sets in singles, it was not looking too good for us," said Shore. "Then we went down 3-1, but we did not quit and that was good to see."
With the score tied at 3-3, senior captain Pawel Dilaj took South Carolina's Johannes Pulsfort to three sets before earning the match-winning victory.
"That was a huge win for Pawel," said Shore. "He is our senior captain and that was a great effort by him today to give us the win."
Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent got Sunday's match started with a win as the pair defeated Pedro Campos and Pulsfort, 8-3, in No. 1 singles. USC's Yevgeny Supeko and Thomas Stoddard then evened out the score by taking down Dilaj and Milan Krnjetin, 8-3, in No. 3 singles.
Tim Puetz and Lukas Marsoun secured the doubles point for Auburn on court two, beating Diego Cubas, 8-5.
The Gamecocks bounced right back in singles, earning wins in the first three completed matches.
Cubas got it started with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Puetz on court two. Supeko followed on court one with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Tsyrenov.
Campos then put South Carolina one point away from victory as he defeated Marsoun in No. 3 singles, 6-1, 7-6.
Junior Alex Petropoulos put Auburn back on track with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Jamie Cuellar in No. 6 singles. Krnjetin then tied up the score at 3-3 as he won the No. 5 singles match over Cressoni, 6-0, 7-6.
With the match on the line, Pulsfort and Dilaj battled it out on court four, going to three sets in the match. Pulsfort won the first, 5-7, before Dilaj tied it up with a 6-4 win in the second set. It was all Dilaj from there as he won the third set, 6-2, to give Auburn the 4-3 win.
Tennis Match Results
Auburn vs South Carolina
Apr 06, 2008 at Columbia, S.C.
#26 Auburn 4, #57 South Carolina 3
Singles competition
1. Yevgeny Supeko (USC) def. #37 Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Diego Cubas (USC) def. #66 Tim Puetz (AU) 7-5, 6-1
3. Pedro Campos (USC) def. Lukas Marsoun (AU) 6-1, 7-6
4. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Johannes Pulsfort (USC) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
5. Milan Krnjetin (AU) def. Ivan Cressoni (USC) 6-0, 7-6
6. Alex Petropoulos (AU) def. Jamie Cuellar (USC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Alexey Tsyrenov/Terence Nugent (AU) def. Pedro Campos/Johannes Pulsfort (USC) 8-3
2. Tim Puetz/Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Diego Cubas/Ivan Cressoni (USC) 8-5
3. Yevgeny Supeko/Thomas Stoddard (USC) def. Milan Krnjetin/Pawel Dilaj (AU) 8-3
Match Notes:
Auburn 10-10, 4-6 SEC; National ranking #26
South Carolina 9-10, 1-8 SEC; National ranking #57
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,1,3,6,5,4)