Feb. 17, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 27 Auburn men's tennis team fell in a 4-3 fight-to-the-end battle to No. 40 Georgia Tech in Atlanta at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. With the loss, the Tigers are 2-3 overall, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 7-2.
"Although we got behind after doubles, I thought we did a good job at coming back and getting wins at right away in singles," head coach Eric Shore said. "We just couldn't close the deal in the final matches. I saw some positive things today and I think we're getting better. It is going to be a process but if we stick together, we're going to be a good team as the season progresses."
Georgia Tech earned the doubles point after picking up wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles spots. Guillermo Gomez and Ryan Smith defeated Auburn freshmen Alexander Sajonz and Tim Hewitt, 8-2. Georgia Tech's Magin Ortiga and Juan Spir topped Michel Monteiro and Andreas Mies, 8-3, at No. 3 doubles.
The sixth-ranked doubles team in Tim Puetz and Alex Stamchev came away with a victory for Auburn during the doubles competition. The pair defeated Dean O'Brien and Eliot Potvin, 8-5, at the No. 1 spot.
Auburn tied the match at one apiece with a singles win from Hewitt at the No. 2 spot. Hewitt came away with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over O'Brien. Stamchev quickly followed with a win at No. 3 singles over Ortiga (6-4, 6-4) to give the Tigers the 2-1 advantage.
In a huge come-from-behind match at No. 1 singles, Auburn's Puetz defeated Gomez in three sets. Gomez, the fourth-ranked singles player in the country, topped Puetz 6-2 in the first set but Puetz came back in the second to win 6-3. The No. 28 player in the country battled Gomez through the third set and came out on top, 7-5.
The Tigers had the 3-1 advantage when the second round of singles competition started, but wasn't able to execute the win as the final three singles matches were won by Georgia Tech. Spir topped Mies in two sets (6-4, 6-4), while Potvin came away with a three-set win over Oliver Strecker (4-6, 6-2, 6-0). Kevin King won the match for the Yellow Jackets as he defeated Sajonz, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 6 singles.
Auburn returns home on Saturday as the Tigers host Southern Miss at the City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center, beginning at 1 p.m.
At Georgia Tech
Singles
1. No. 28 Tim Puetz (Auburn) def. No. 4 Guillermo Gomez (Georgia Tech); 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
2. Tim Hewitt (Auburn) def. Dean O'Brien (Georgia Tech); 6-4, 6-2
3. No. 86 Alex Stamchev (Auburn) def. Magin Ortiga (Georgia Tech); 6-4, 6-4
4. Juan Spir (Georgia Tech) def. Andreas Mies (Auburn); 6-4, 6-4
5. Eliot Potvin (Georgia Tech) def. Oliver Strecker (Auburn); 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
6. Kevin King (Georgia Tech) def. Alexander Sajonz (Auburn); 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
1. No. 6 Puetz/Stamchev (Auburn) def. O'Brien/Potvin (Georgia Tech); 8-5
2. Gomez/Smith (Georgia Tech) def. Sajonz/Hewitt (Auburn); 8-2
3. Ortiga/Spir (Georgia Tech) def. Monteiro/Mies (Auburn); 8-3
Match Notes:
Auburn 2-3; National ranking #27
Georgia Tech 7-2; National ranking #40
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,3,1,4,5,6)
Match played indoors