April 17, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Auburn men's tennis team fell to Kentucky in the first round if the SEC Tournament Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark. The 4-2 loss is the first-ever to the Wildcats in the SEC Tournament, giving Auburn a 4-1 record against UK in post-season play.
"They played better than we did today," head coach Eric Shore said. "Bottom line, they won and we didn't, so we are going to take some time and find out our NCAA fate and see where we end up."
Auburn will wait for its NCAA tournament bid while sitting on a 10-12 season record. Kentucky improves to 11-15 and continues to the second round of the conference tournament, a 10:30 a.m., Friday meeting with No. 2 seed Ole Miss.
Auburn was once again not able to overcome a defeat in doubles as Kentucky took the early point.
No. 48 Bruno Agostinelli and Brad Cox defeated Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent, 8-6, on court one for the first doubles win. Will Beck and Shane Collins then sealed the doubles victory for the Wildcats as the duo defeated Tim Puetz and Pawel Dilaj, 8-5, at No. 2 doubles.
Marcus Sundh and Alex Lambropolous were up 7-6 on court three over Milan Krnjetin and Lukas Marsoun when play was stopped.
Auburn fought back in singles as No. 80 Puetz was the first one off the court with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Cox on court two.
Kentucky quickly took the lead back on court four as Alberto Gonzalez defeated Nugent, 6-4, 6-1. Dilaj then tied it up at 2-2 with the 6-1, 6-3 win over Collins on court five.
Kentucky rallied behind a center-court victory by No. 26 Agostinelli over No. 35 Tsyrenov, 6-3, 6-1, and took the match win on court three as Sundh defeated Marsoun, 6-1, 6-4.
"It's a tough loss. Lukas was coming back in his match, and got overruled at match point and that was it," Shore said.
Alex Petropoulos was up on Lambropolous, 7-6 (14-12), 1-0, when Kentucky clinched the match.
"Tim and Pawel got us in the match, made it 2-2 for us and it was looking better and better. Alex won the breaker at 14-12 on his first set and was looking good, we just needed to get another one of those at the top, but it didn't happen," Shore said.
NCAA Tournament pairings will be announced between 1-1:30 p.m. on April 29 on ESPNews.
Tennis Match Results
Kentucky vs Auburn
Apr 17, 2008 at Fayetteville, Ark.
#43 Kentucky 4, #30 Auburn 2
Singles competition
1. #26 Bruno Agostinelli (KENT) def. #35 Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) 6-3, 6-1
2. #80 Tim Puetz (AU) def. Brad Cox (KENT) 6-1, 6-1
3. Marcus Sundh (KENT) def. Lukas Marsoun (AU) 6-1, 6-4
4. Alberto Gonzalez (KENT) def. Terence Nugent (AU) 6-4, 6-1
5. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Shane Collins (KENT) 6-1, 6-3
6. Alex Petropoulos (AU) vs. Alex Lambropolous (KENT) 7-6 (14-12), 1-0, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #48 Bruno Agostinelli/Brad Cox (KENT) def. Alexey Tsyrenov/Terence Nugent (AU) 8-6
2. Will Beck/Shane Collins (KENT) def. Tim Puetz/Pawel Dilaj (AU) 8-5
3. Milan Krnjetin/Lukas Marsoun (AU) vs. Marcus Sundh/Alex Lambropolous (KENT) 6-7, unfinished
Match Notes:
Kentucky 11-15, 3-8 SEC; National ranking #43
Auburn 10-12, 4-7 SEC; National ranking #30
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,4,5,1,3)
First Round of 2008 SEC Men's Tennis Championship
Hosted by the University of Arkansas