April 14, 2012
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Auburn senior Alex Stamchev broke the school record for combined singles and doubles victories on Saturday night as the 16th-ranked Tiger men's tennis team defeated rival No. 48 Alabama 4-1 at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.
The Tigers (16-8, 5-6 SEC) have now matched their win total from the entire 2011 season and earned the No. 7 seed in next week's SEC Men's Tennis Tournament, which begins Thursday in Starkville, Miss. Alabama (10-14, 2-9 SEC) will be the 11th seed.
"We played very well in doubles, obviously." Auburn head coach Eric Shore said. "Alabama didn't play that well in doubles, but we knew they would come back and play well in singles. They got better as the year went on. This is a tough place to play. Alabama is very well-coached; they're a good team. But we came to play tonight. I'm happy for the guys, they deserved to win this one."
Stamchev earned his 207th and 208th career victories at Auburn to pass Marcel van der Merwe for the school record. van der Merwe had won 207 career matches from 1984-87. Stamchev now has 105 career doubles wins and 103 victories in singles play.
Just as when he clinched the Auburn doubles record in January, his win at the No. 2 singles position clinched the victory for the Tigers tonight in Tuscaloosa. He earned a 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 win over Jarryd Botha to give Auburn its fourth point and lock down the victory.
"What do you say?" Shore said. "He's our senior captain. The guy has been winning since he's been here, for four years now. But he's not done yet. We want more. We'd like to host (NCAA first and second rounds). We've got to get ready now for South Carolina in the first round of the SEC Tournament. It will be a tough match. We're happy the way things worked out for us tonight."
The Tigers improved to 11-0 on the season when winning the doubles point, which they did Saturday for the first time in their last five SEC matches. In fact, Auburn swept the doubles portion of the match for just the second time in SEC play this year. The Auburn team of Dennis Lengsfeld and Lucas Lopasso got things started with an 8-3 win over Vikram Reddy and Carlos Taborga at the No. 2 doubles position, then Daniel Cochrane and Lukas Ollert clinched the point for Auburn with an 8-1 win over David Vieyra and Filippos Tsangaridis at No. 3.
Auburn's 14th-ranked duo of Stamchev and Andreas Mies then secured the sweep with an 8-5 win at the No. 1 spot over the 34th-ranked Alabama team of Ricky Doverspike and Jarryd Botha.
The Crimson Tide knotted the score at one apiece when 119th-ranked Reddy earned a win over Lengsfeld at the No. 4 singles spot, 6-3, 6-2. But the Tigers would reclaim the lead at No. 6 singles as Ollert made quick work of Michael Thompson, 6-2, 6-2.
Auburn's lead would increase to 3-1 when 19th-ranked Mies earned his fourth straight win, downing 121st-ranked Doverspike, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 1 singles position. Stamchev's win at No. 2 provided the clinching point for the Tigers.
Matches at No. 3 singles (Cochrane vs. Daniil Proskura) and No. 5 singles (Lopasso vs. Vieyra) were halted after the clincher with both matches in the third set. Auburn will play the opening match of the 2012 SEC Men's Tennis Tournament on Thursday, April 19, as they face 10th-seeded South Carolina at 8 a.m. at the A. J. Pitts Tennis Centre on the campus of Mississippi State. Live scoring will be available through hailstate.com.
Auburn Men's Tennis
April 14, 2012
Alabama Tennis Stadium - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
#16 Auburn 4, #48 Alabama 1
Singles
1. #19 Andreas Mies (AU) def. #121 Ricky Doverspike (UA), 6-3, 6-3
2. #90 Alex Stamchev (AU) def. Jarryd Botha (UA), 6-2, 6-7, 6-3
3. Daniel Cochrane (AU) vs. #102 Daniil Proskura (UA), 7-5, 4-6, 0-1 unfinished
4. #119 Vikram Reddy (UA) def. Dennis Lengsfeld (AU), 6-3, 6-2
5. Lucas Lopasso (AU) vs. David Vieyra (UA), 6-7, 7-6, 0-1 unfinished
6. Lukas Ollert (AU) def. Michael Thompson (UA), 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 6, 1, 2*
Doubles
1. #14 Alex Stamchev/Andreas Mies (AU) def. #34 Ricky Doverspike/Jarryd Botha (UA), 8-5
2. Dennis Lengsfeld/Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. Vikram Reddy/Carlos Taborga (UA), 8-3
3. Daniel Cochrane/Lukas Ollert (AU) def. David Vieyra/Filippos Tsangaridis (UA), 8-1
Order of finish: 2, 1*, 3
Match Notes
Alabama 10-14 (2-9 SEC)
Auburn 16-8 (5-6 SEC), National ranking #16
T-3:32