May 10, 2008
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ATHENS, Ga. - For the first time all season, the No. 35 Auburn men's tennis team was able to overcome losing the doubles point and earn the match win as the Tigers defeated No. 28 Wake Forest, 4-3, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
With the win, Auburn (11-12) moves on to the second round and will play No. 5 Georgia (22-3) at 2 p.m. ET at the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens, Ga. The Bulldogs advance after beating No. 70 Radford, 4-0, in the first round.
Auburn advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in the program's history. The Tigers are now 18-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and hold a 4-3 advantage in the series against Wake Forest.
"We just battled," said Auburn head coach Eric Shore. "I thought we played well in doubles, but it was close again and we lost a very close doubles point. We didn't hang our head and just battled and won a close one."
After losing six of their last seven matches of the season, the win over the Demon Deacons (17-11) ends a rough stretch of the season in which the Tigers lost four 4-3 matches. The win also marks just the third 4-3 win of the season for Auburn.
"We were due, we've lost a number of those this year and we just kept battling and had a little bit more in the tank at the end," said Shore. "It was encouraging, that's for sure."
Wake Forest jumped to the early lead in the match by winning No. 1 and 3 doubles. Seventh-ranked Cory Parr and Steven Forman teamed up to defeat Auburn's Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent in No. 1 doubles, 8-4.
Mariusz Adamski and Carlos Salmon clinched the point for the Demon Deacons with an 8-6 win over AU's Tim Puetz and Pawel Dilaj in No. 2 doubles. When doubles play was suspended, Auburn's Lukas Marsoun and Milan Krnjetin held an 8-7 advantage over Jason Morganstern and Jonathan Wolff.
The loss of the doubles point put Auburn in a tough spot as it entered the match with a 0-10 record when losing the early point. The last time the Tigers won a match after losing doubles was on April 8, 2007 when Auburn pulled out a 4-3 win over LSU.
Juniors Marsoun and Krnjetin won the crucial singles points down the stretch to give Auburn the win. With Wake Forest holding a 3-2 lead, one point away from the win, Marsoun took his No. 3 singles match to three sets to earn the 2-6, 7-6 (0), 7-5 win over Adamski to tie the match at 3-3.
Krnjetin followed up with a three-set thriller of his own in No. 5 singles, clinching the match win for Auburn by defeating Jonathan Wolff, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2.
"You've got to give Lukas Marsoun a lot of credit there, losing the first set and he didn't quit mentally," said Shore. "Milan got down early in the first set and came back for a big win. He ended up going three sets, but he hung in there and that is what we have been trying to tell the team all year and they got it done today."
No. 87 Puetz, a freshman playing in his first NCAA Tournament, put Auburn up on the board first, beating No. 68 Forman, 6-2, 6-2 in No. 2 singles. Dilaj, Auburn's senior captain, followed up in No. 4 singles with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Morganstern.
Taking losses in singles were Tsyrenov, ranked 27th in the nation, and Nick Maurillo. Tsyrenov lost to No. 46 Parr, 6-3, 6-3, while Maurillo lost to Andrew Brasseaux, 6-4, 7-5.
Fan can follow all the action in Sunday's second round live by visiting the Tournament Central page at www.GeorgiaDogs.com. A free video Webcast is available along with live scoring.
Tennis Match Results
Auburn vs Wake Forest
May 10, 2008 at Athens, Ga.
#35 Auburn 4, #28 Wake Forest 3
Singles competition
1. #46 Cory Parr (WAKE) def. #27 Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) 6-3, 6-3
2. #87 Tim Puetz (AU) def. #68 Steven Forman (WAKE) 6-2, 6-4
3. Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Mariusz Adamski (WAKE) 2-6, 7-6 (7-0), 7-5
4. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Jason Morganstern (WAKE) 6-4, 6-3
5. Milan Krnjetin (AU) def. Jonathan Wolff (WAKE) 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2
6. Andrew Brasseaux (WAKE) def. Nick Maurillo (AU) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #7 Cory Parr/Steven Forman (WAKE) def. Alexey Tsyrenov/Terence Nugent (AU) 8-4
2. Mariusz Adamski/Carlos Salmon (WAKE) def. Tim Puetz/Pawel Dilaj (AU) 8-6
3. Jason Morganstern/Jonathan Wolff (WAKE) vs. Lukas Marsoun/Milan Krnjetin (AU) 7-8, unfinished
Match Notes: Auburn 11-12; National ranking #35
Wake Forest 17-11; National ranking #28
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (1,2,6,4,3,5)
NCAA First Round
Wake Forest 17-32 Seed
Auburn 33-48 Seed
Official: Jim Russell T-4:33 A-136