March 5, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 56 Auburn men's tennis team opened the Southeastern Conference regular season Friday afternoon at the City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center, hosting No. 2 Tennessee and dropping the match by a score of 7-0.
With the loss, the Tigers drop to 3-5 on the season. Tennessee improves to 12-1.
"We opened the match well, playing better in doubles then we have in the last couple matches," head coach Eric Shore said. "The team, however, lost their focus and energy in singles competition and didn't show up tocompete. It's not the way we wanted to open the SEC season so we'll have to come out and be stronger on Sunday."
Highlighting the day for the Tigers was the performance of junior Tim Puetz and sophomore Alex Stamchev in the No. 1 doubles position. The seventh-ranked pair topped the No 2 team in the country in Davey Sandgren and John-Patrick Smith by a score of 8-5 to finish first in doubles play. The duo are now 18-2 on the season.
"Tim and Alex continue to be very consistent in doubles play," Shore said. "They are constantly improving their game and it is showing on the court."
Tennessee's Matteo Fago and Edward Jones followed with an 8-6 win over Tim Hewitt and Lucas Lopasso at the No. 3 doubles spot. The visitors recorded the doubles point after Boris Conkic and Rhyne Williams, ranked No. 5 in the nation, came away with an 8-4 victory over Alexander Sajonz and Andreas Mies.
The Volunteers headed into singles competition with a 1-0 lead and picked up their second team point when No. 32 Conkic topped Hewitt in two sets (6-1, 6-2) at the No. 2 singles spot. Tennessee's Tennys Sandgren tallied the team's third point after he defeated Lopasso, 6-3, 6-2.
In the No. 3 singles position, No. 51 Williams recorded a two-set (6-4, 6-2) victory over Auburn's No. 89 Stamchev to secure the win for the Volunteers. Fago followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Auburn freshman Oliver Strecker at the No. 6 spot.
The fourth-ranked player in Tennessee's Smith and the No. 26 player Puetz battled in No. 1 singles, seeing Smith come away with a 6-3 win in the first set. The second set saw the pair fight for points and, with the score tied at four a piece, Smith pushed through to take 6-4 win.
Clashing at the No. 5 spot were Auburn's Mies and Tennessee's Matt Brewer. Brewer, the No. 88 player in the nation, recorded a 6-3 set one win, but Mies wasn't going to give up easily. The Tiger freshman forced a set three tiebreaker after he put together a 6-4 second set win. The pair exchanged scores throughout the 10-point tiebreak. Tied at eight, Brewer rattled off the final two points to win the match.
Auburn returns to the Yarbrough Tennis Center as the Tigers host No. 11 Georgia Sunday. The match is set to start at 1 p.m. and admission is free. Free hamburgers will be available for the first 200 fans prior to the match.
Against No. 2 Tennessee
Singles
1. No. 4 John-Patrick Smith (Tennessee) def. No. 26 Tim Puetz (Auburn); 6-3, 6-4
2. No. 32 Boris Conkic (Tennessee) def. Tim Hewitt (Auburn); 6-1, 6-2
3. No. 51 Rhyne Williams (Tennessee) def. No. 89 Alex Stamchev (Auburn); 6-4, 6-2
4. Tennys Sandgren (Tennessee) def. Lucas Lopasso (Auburn); 6-3, 6-2
5. No. 88 Matt Brewer (Tennessee) def. Andreas Mies (Auburn); 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (8)
6. Matteo Fago (Tennessee) def. Oliver Strecker (Auburn); 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. No. 7 Puetz/Stamchev (Auburn) def. No. 2 D. Sandgren/Smith (Tennessee); 8-5
2. No. 5 Conkic/Williams (Tennessee) def. Sajonz/Mies (Auburn); 8-4
3. Fago/Jones (Tennessee) def. Hewitt/Lopasso (Auburn); 8-6
Match Notes:
Auburn 3-5; National ranking #56
Tennessee 12-1; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,4,3,6,1,5)
Match played outdoors