Feb. 20, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. The No. 28 Auburn men's tennis squad hosted the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and came away with the 6-1 victory outdoors Saturday at the City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center.
¡°I was really happy with our doubles today,¡± head coach Eric Shore said. ¡°We changed up our line a little bit and saw some positive things from the team today. We felt like we had enough depth to handle it and we did.
The Tigers are now 3-3 on the season as Southern Miss falls to 2-2. Auburn keeps its series record with the Golden Eagles perfect, improving to 12-0.
The Tigers came away with the doubles point, winning all three matches. At the No. 1 spot, junior Tim Puetz and freshman Andreas Mies defeated Jan Burmeister and Julien Roussel, 8-4. A pair of Alex¡¯s in Alexander Sajonz and Alex Stamchev followed with an 8-5 win over Patricio Alvarado and Markus Wessinghage at the No. 2 position.
Closing out doubles competition was freshmen Tim Hewitt and Lucas Lopasso. The pair topped brothers Diego Machuca and Oscar Machuca in a tight 9-7 match.
Looking to use this match to gain experience, Shore had six freshmen represent the Tigers in singles competition. Oliver Strecker recorded his fourth win of the season, defeating Strate Krstevski in two sets, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 2 spot to finish first.
Sajonz followed with a quick 6-3, 6-1 win over Diego Machuca to pick up his third win of the year. Mies continues to have a successful first-year, coming away with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Wessinghage.
Hewitt had a tough first set against Alvarado in the No. 1 singles position, coming away with the tight 7-5 win. He turned it on in the second set, topping his opponent 6-2. Also having a tough battle was Lopasso, who defeated Burmeister in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 10-8).
¡°I was very happy with our freshmen today,¡± Shore said. ¡°They got wins that they really needed as we head into conference play, which is a very tough part of our schedule coming up.¡±
The Tigers travel to Tulsa, Okla., on Feb. 28 to take on the University of Tulsa Hurricane. The match is set for 12 p.m. CST and will be played at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Against Southern Mississippi
Singles
1. Tim Hewitt (AU) def. Patricio Alvarado (USMM) 7-5, 6-2
2. Oliver Strecker (AU) def. Strate Krstevski (USMM) 6-1, 6-1
3. Andreas Mies (AU) def. Markus Wessinghage (USMM) 6-1, 6-2
4. Alexander Sajonz (AU) def. Diego Machuca (USMM) 6-3, 6-1
5. Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. Jan Burmeister (USMM) 4-6, 6-4, 10-8
6. Julien Roussel (USMM) def. Michael Wardell (AU) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
1. Tim Puetz/Andreas Mies (AU) def. Jan Burmeister/Julien Roussel (USMM) 8-4
2. Alexander Sajonz/Alex Stamchev (AU) def. Patricio Alvarado/Markus Wessinghage (USMM) 8-5
3. Tim Hewitt/Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. Diego Machuca/Oscar Machuca (USMM) 9-7
Match Notes:
Southern Miss 2-2
Auburn 3-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,4,3,6,1,5)