Nov. 4, 2011
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Auburn men's tennis team picked up eight victories on the opening day of its final tournament of the fall season, the UCF Invitational, on Friday afternoon in Orlando. The Tigers picked up five singles victories and swept doubles action.
Coming off the doubles championship at the Larry Easley Memorial Classic, Auburn senior Alex Stamchev and sophomore Daniel Cochrane defeated UCF's Mitch Thams and Juan Bolona, 8-3.
Dennis Lengsfeld and Lucas Lopasso topped UCF's Joe DeLinks and Matthew Gladstone, 8-6, in the Tiger duo's first ever match together. Closing out doubles play was Michael Wardell and Rafael Rondino, who raced past Fransesc Aulina and Eugene Dolgovykh of UCF, 8-3.
In singles, Stamchev earned a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Aulina. Cochrane earned his team-high 12th and 11th straight victory this fall by defeating Thams, 6-3, 6-3.
Lengsfeld also earned a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Central Florida's Erik Burnskog. Lopasso topped UCF's Mario Samson, 7-5, 6-2. After dropping the first set 4-6, Wardell marched back and defeated DeLinks 6-2, 6-1 in the final two sets.
Day two of the tournament will begin Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
Mies Eliminated at USTA/ITA National Indoor
Auburn junior Andreas Mies concluded his stay at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championship on Friday, dropping his first-round consolation match to Duke's Chris Mengel at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Mengel took a three-set decision over Mies, 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5, to eliminate the Auburn junior from the tournament. On Thursday, Mies fell to another Blue Devil, No. 4-ranked Henrique Cunha, 6-1, 6-1, in the singles main draw first round.
UCF Invitational - Day One
Doubles:
Stamchev/Cochrane (Auburn) def. Thams/Bolona (UCF) 8-3
Lengsfeld/Lopasso (Auburn) def. DeLinks/Gladstone (UCF) 8-6
Wardell/Rondino (Auburn) def. Aulina/Dolgovykh (UCF) 8-3
Singles:
Stamchev (Auburn) def. Aulina (UCF) 6-3; 6-2
Cochrane (Auburn) def. Thams (UCF) 6-3; 6-3
Lengsfeld (Auburn) def. Brunskog (UCF) 6-3; 6-3
Lopasso (Auburn) def. Samson (UCF) 7-5; 6-2
Bolona (UCF) def. Rondino (Auburn) 4-6; 6-2; 6-3
Wardell (Auburn) def. DeLinks (UCF) 4-6; 6-2; 6-1