March 3, 2013
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AUBURN - The 32nd-ranked Auburn men's tennis team dropped its second straight match in heartbreaking fashion to open SEC play, falling to No. 13 Ole Miss, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center's indoor facility.
Auburn (8-4, 0-2 SEC) saw three singles players and a doubles team earn wins over nationally-ranked opponents, but the bottom of the lineup for the Rebels (8-2, 2-0) proved to be the difference, as did doubles play. Auburn also lost by a 4-3 margin to 10th-ranked Mississippi State on Friday.
"SEC wins are hard to come by," Auburn head coach Eric Shore said. "We played two top-15 teams (this weekend), and we were right there. We thought coming into the season, and still feel, that our doubles play is a strength. We came up a little short in doubles this weekend, so we've got to get back on track. Give credit to our guys at the top of the lineup today. They've been battling through some things, and they stepped up today. You can't ask for more than that. But we needed to get one more somewhere. We'll get ready for next weekend and head out on the road."
The Tigers fell behind early, dropping the doubles point for the second straight match. Dennis Lengsfeld and Lucas Lopasso bounced back from a loss Friday to earn an 8-3 win over 49th-ranked William Kallberg and Adrian Skogeng at the No. 2 doubles spot to give Auburn an early advantage. But top-ranked Andreas Mies and Daniel Cochrane fell for the second time this weekend, coming up short against the nation's fifth-ranked tandem of Nik Scholtz and Jonas Lutjen, 8-6.
The match on court three came down to the wire as well, but it was the Rebels' team of Johan Backstrom and Stefan Lindmark that pulled out a 9-7 win over Lukas Ollert and Joseph Van Dooren to put the Rebels ahead 1-0.
Ole Miss would then move ahead to a 3-0 lead with wins on courts four and five. The Rebels' Backstrom fought back from a first-set loss to win in three sets over Van Dooren, 1-6, 6-3, 6-0. Lengsfeld then fell in a tough battle to Lindmark on court four, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Auburn stormed back with three straight wins on the top three courts, all coming over nationally-ranked opponents. Cochrane earned the highest-ranked win of his career with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over fifth-ranked Lutjen, and Mies made it 3-2 with a win over No. 12 Scholtz at the top singles spot, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Just a moment later, Ollert completed a comeback win over 55th-ranked Kallberg at No. 3 singles, 6-7 (2), 6-1, 7-5.
It all came down to court six, where a three-hour battle between the Rebels' Skogeng and Auburn's Michael Wardell went deep into the third set. Skogeng moved ahead to a 5-2 lead, only to see Wardell hold once and break once to get back on serve at 5-4. But Skogeng was able to break Wardell once again to clinch the match, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, and win the match for Ole Miss.
The Tigers will hit the road next weekend for a pair of SEC matches. Auburn will travel to Baton Rouge, La., on Friday, March 8, to face LSU at 3 p.m., then wrap up the weekend at Arkansas on Sunday, March 10, for a 1 p.m. match against the Razorbacks. For the latest on Auburn tennis, follow @MensTennisAU on Twitter and visit AuburnTigers.com.
Auburn Men's Tennis Results
March 3, 2013
Yarbrough Tennis Center - Auburn, Ala.
#13 Ole Miss 4, #32 Auburn 3
Singles
1. #107 Andreas Mies (AU) def. #12 Nik Scholtz (OM), 7-5, 7-6 (4)
2. Daniel Cochrane (AU) def. #5 Jonas Lutjen (OM), 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Lukas Ollert (AU) def. #55 William Kallberg (OM), 6-7 (2), 6-1, 7-5
4. Stefan Lindmark (OM) def. Dennis Lengsfeld (AU), 7-6 (5), 6-4
5. Johan Backstrom (OM) def. Joseph Van Dooren (AU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-0
6. Adrian Skogeng (OM) def. Michael Wardell (AU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2, 1, 3, 6
Doubles
1. #5 Nik Scholtz/Jonas Lutjen (OM) def. #1 Andreas Mies/Daniel Cochrane (AU), 8-6
2. Dennis Lengsfeld/Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. #49 William Kallberg/Adrian Skogeng (OM), 8-3
3. Johan Backstrom/Stefan Lindmark (OM) def. Lukas Ollert/Joseph Van Dooren (AU), 9-7
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Match Notes
Auburn 8-4, 0-2 SEC, National ranking #32
Ole Miss 8-2, 2-0 SEC, National ranking #13
T - 4:22
Match played indoors