Feb. 12, 2011
AUBURN, Ala. ¨C The No. 28 Auburn Tigers hosted No. 19 North Carolina and put together a solid 7-0 upset over the Tar Heels on Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. With the victory, Auburn moves to 4-1 on the season.
¡°North Carolina is a really good team and they are well coached,¡± head coach Eric Shore said. ¡°They had gotten us the last three years in very tight battles. We won a lot of close games today and it was really hard to get that fourth point. I am proud of the guys and how they competed. They are getting better and it¡¯s starting to show.¡±
The Tigers won the first doubles match of the afternoon as junior Alex Stamchev and sophomore Andreas Mies defeated Stefan Hardy and Zach Hunter, 8-6, in the No. 2 spot. On court No. 3, Auburn solidified the doubles point with an 8-6 win from Michel Monteiro and Rafael Rondino.
Tim Puetz and Daniel Cochrane battled back from two games down to take an 8-7 edge before Jose Hernandez and Brennan Boyajian forced a tiebreaker. Puetz and Cochrane won the tiebreaker in exciting fashion to take the match, 8-6.
Auburn carried its strong play from doubles over to singles as Mies finished off Kyle Baker in the No. 6 spot, 6-1, 6-2, for Auburn¡¯s second point. In the No. 1 spot, Puetz upset No. 30 Hernandez in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Giving Auburn the fourth point and the win was freshman Cochrane who held off William Parker, 6-4, 7-6 (1). Freshman Rondino lost the first set to Cameron Ahari, 4-6, but won the second set 7-6 (6), before winning the match tiebreaker, 10-7.
No. 65 Tim Hewitt battled back from being down one set to defeat No. 90 Brennan Boyajian 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 giving Auburn a 6-0 lead. Capping off the shutout was Alex Stamchev, who upset No. 103 Hardy, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
Up next for the Tigers will be a matchup on Wednesday, Feb. 16th, against UAB at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The match will begin at 1 p.m. and admission is free.
Against North Carolina
Singles
1. Tim Puetz (AU) def. #30 Jose Hernadez (UNC); 6©\4, 6©\3
2. #65 Tim Hewitt (AU) def. #90 Brennan Boyajian (UNC); 4©\6, 6©\4, 7©\5
3. Alex Stamchev (AU) def. #103 Stefan Hardy (UNC); 6©\4, 7©\6 (8©\6)
4. Rafael Rondino (AU) def. Cameron Ahari (UNC); 4©\6, 7©\6 (8©\6), 1©\0 (10©\7)
5. Daniel Cochrane (AU) def. William Parker (UNC); 6©\4, 7©\6 (7©\1)
6. Andreas Mies (AU) def. Kyle Baker (UNC); 6©\1, 6©\2
Doubles
1. Tim Puetz/Daniel Cochrane (AU) def. Brennan Boyajian/Jose Hernadez (UNC); 9©\8 (8©\6)
2. Alex Stamchev/Andreas Mies (AU) def. Stefan Hardy/Zach Hunter (UNC); 8©\6
3. Michel Monteiro/Rafael Rondino (AU) def. Cameron Ahari/Kyle Baker (UNC); 8©\6
Match Notes
University of North Carolina 3©\2; National ranking #19
Auburn University 4©\1; National ranking #28
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,1,5,4,2,3)