Jan. 29, 2011
LUBBOCK, Texas - The 31st-ranked Auburn men's tennis team faced No. 19 California on the first day of the ITA Indoor Qualifier and dropped a 4-2 decision Saturday on the campus of Texas Tech University. The Tigers picked up two doubles and one singles victory on the day.
"We had our chances today, but couldn't capitalize," head coach Eric Shore said. "After doubles, we put ourselves in a good position. However, we got down early in singles. We fought back, but California had a little more fight left."
The Golden Bears opened doubles competition with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles. The Tigers, however, put together a pair of tough victories to secure the doubles point. Sophomore Andreas Mies and freshman Rafael Rondino pulled off a 9-7 upset over No. 17 Carlos Cueto and Jonathan Dahan at No. 3 doubles.
Auburn's No. 1 doubles pair of senior Tim Puetz and junior Alex Stamchev solidified the doubles point with a nail-biting win over Ben McLachlan and Pedro Zerbini. The two pairs battled to an 8-8 tie before the Tiger duo pulled ahead to win 9-8.
California captured No. 4 singles to lock the score at one point a piece, but Auburn responded with a singles victory at the sixth position. Mies defeated California's Riki McLachlan in two sets (6-1, 6-4) to give Auburn a 2-1 advantage.
The Golden Bears tied the score at 2-2 as Cueto topped Auburn's Tim Hewitt in a tough, two-set victory (6-4, 7-5) at No. 3 singles. California went ahead with another two-set win at No. 2 singles and the match came down to the final two singles spots.
Zerbini tallied a 6-3 first-set victory over Puetz at No. 1 singles, but Puetz rebounded and the two battled back and forth in the second set to a 6-6 tie. Zerbini held on to top Puetz in the tie break and won the set, 7-6, to secure a 4-2 win for the Golden Bears.
Freshman Daniel Cochrane, competing at No. 5 singles, dropped a close 7-6 first set to California's Ben McLachlan. Cochrane answered with a 6-2 second-set win and was up 4-0 in the third before play was called.
The Tigers close out the weekend with a Sunday match against SEC opponent LSU. The two teams face off at 11 a.m. on the campus of Texas Tech University.
Against No. 19 California
Singles
1. Pedro Zerbini (California) def. Tim Puetz (Auburn); 6-3, 7-6
2. Chris Konigsfeldt (California) def. Alex Stamchev (Auburn); 6-2, 6-4
3. Carlos Cueto (California) def. Tim Hewitt (Auburn); 6-4, 7-5
4. Nick Andrews (California) def. Rafael Rondino (Auburn); 6-4, 6-0
5. Daniel Cochrane (Auburn) vs. Ben McLachlan (California); 6-7, 6-2, 4-0 unf
6. Andreas Mies (Auburn) def. Riki McLachlan (California); 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
1. Puetz/Stamchev (Auburn) def. McLachlan/Zerbini (California); 9-8
2. No. 13 Andrews/Konigsfeldt (California) def. Cochrane/Lopasso (Auburn); 8-4
3. Mies/Rondino (Auburn) def. No. 17 Cueto/Dahan (California); 9-7
Match Notes
Auburn - 0-1; National Ranking No. 31
California - 2-1; National Ranking No. 19
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,6,3,2,1)