March 7, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. - A pair of nationally-ranked SEC men's tennis teams in No. 56 Auburn and No. 11 Georgia met on a warm Sunday afternoon at the City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center, seeing the Bulldogs top the Tigers 6-1.
The win improved Georgia to 9-2 overall and 2-0 in the SEC, while the Tigers are now 3-6 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
"Today was a better day for us and I think we competed better than we did on Friday," head coach Eric Shore said. "This weekend was the toughest part of our schedule this season and it was a learning experience for our young team."
After Georgia opened the day with an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles, the two teams and the crowd of 298 were treated to a pair of tough battles at the other two doubles positions. The team of freshmen Tim Hewitt and Lucas Lopasso found themselves down early at 4-2 to Georgia's Christian Vitulli and Bo Seal.
The duo, however, tied the score at four a piece and held a one-point advantage throughout most of the match. The Bulldogs weren't finished as Vitulli and Seal forced a tie-break and went on to win the set, 9-8 (3).
The seventh-ranked doubles team in the country in Auburn's Tim Puetz and Alex Stamchev were down 2-0 to Georgia's Jamie Hunt and Nate Schnugg, but tied the match at three at No. 1 doubles. Just like the No. 3 spot, the two teams fought point for point until, tied at eight, the Bulldogs came away with 9-7 tie-break win to take the match 9-8.
Georgia's Vitulli recorded the Bulldogs' second point after topping freshman Oliver Strecker at the No. 6 singles spot in two sets (6-3, 6-3). A pair of nationally-ranked players in Auburn's No. 26 Puetz and Georgia's No. 29 Garrapiz met at the No. 1 singles spot, seeing Garrapiz come away with a two-set victory (6-2, 6-3) to give the Bulldogs their third team point.
The Bulldogs secured the team win after No. 105 Schnugg topped Hewitt in two sets (7-5, 6-3) at the No. 2 singles position. Georgia's No. 104 Seal and Auburn's Lopasso met at the No. 4 spot and Seal picked up a tough two-set victory, 6-4, 6-4.
Mies and Bernstein battled at the No. 5 singles position and Bernstein opened the match with a 6-2 win in set one. Mies came back and took the second set 6-2, but Bernstein pushed through to take the match with a 6-4 third-set win.
Auburn's No. 89 Stamchev found himself behind a set after Hunt took the first set, 6-3, at the No. 3 singles spot. The Auburn sophomore wasn't through as he picked up the 6-2 victory in set two. In the third set, Stamchev pulled ahead early, going up 3-0, and finished with a 6-3 victory to earn his ninth win of the year.
The Tigers will go to Gainesville to play the Florida Gators in their first SEC road match of the season. The matchup is at 2 p.m. on March 12th.
Against Georgia
Singles
1. No. 29 Javier Garrapiz (Georgia) def. No. 26 Tim Puetz (Auburn); 6-2, 6-3
2. No. 105 Nate Schnugg (Georgia) def. Tim Hewitt (Auburn); 7-5, 6-3
3. No. 89 Alex Stamchev (Auburn) def. Jamie Hunt (Georgia); 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. No. 104 Bo Seal (Georgia) def. Lucas Lopasso (Auburn); 6-4, 6-4
5. Drake Bernstein (Georgia) def. Andreas Mies (Auburn); 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
6. Christian Vitulli (Georgia) def. Oliver Strecker (Auburn); 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
1. Jamie Hunt/Nate Schnugg (Georgia) def. No. 7 Tim Puetz/Alex Stamchev (Auburn); 9-8 (7)
2. No. 34 Javier Garrapiz/Drake Bernstein (Georgia) def. Andreas Mies/Alexander Sajonz; 8-1
3. Christian Vitulli/Bo Seal (Georgia) def. Tim Hewitt/Lucas Lopasso (Auburn); 9-8 (3)
Match Notes
Georgia 9-2, National ranking #11
Auburn 3-6, National ranking #56
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,1,2,4,5,3)