Feb. 4, 2018
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn men's tennis split a pair of home matches Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
UCF defeated the Tigers in the noon match 6-1, while Auburn topped Samford 4-0 in the nightcap.
"I was really happy to get the doubles point in both matches," Auburn coach Bobby Reynolds said, "especially against UCF, because we knew we would be in a dogfight against them with their singles lineup so strong from top to bottom.
"We've been stressing the importance of winning that doubles point since the fall, because of the momentum it gives you. We won doubles in three of the four matches on the weekend; now we will work to build on that for singles."
Against UCF, Auburn took the early lead with a pair of doubles victories. Carles Sarrio and Diego Chavarria posted a 6-4 win on court three, and, after UCF won on court one, Olle Thestrup and Tad Maclean won a tiebreaker 7-4 to post a 7-6 win and clinch the doubles point for Auburn.
In singles, UCF held the advantage, taking the first set in five of six matches; only Thestrup was a first-set winner for Auburn, 6-1 over Eero Vasa on court four. Edward Nguyen won his second set on court one 7-5 against Korey Lovett, but the Knights prevailed in all six singles matches for the final 6-1 score.
In the Samford match, the Tigers won the doubles point with a pair of quick 6-1 wins by Sarrio and Chavarria on court two and by Thestrup and Maclean on court one.
Auburn went deeper into its lineup for singles, and got excellent results. The Tigers won the first set of every match, winning two in tiebreakers, and got straight-set victories from Brandon Laubser, Carles Sarrio and Lorenzo Rodriguez to clinch the team victory.
The Tigers are now 7-3 on the spring season. Auburn's next match comes Friday at home vs. South Alabama at 4 p.m. All Auburn home matches are held at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (771 Yarbrough Farms Blvd., Auburn), and admission is free.
UCF 6, Auburn 1
Singles
Korey Lovett (UCF) def. Edward Nguyen (AU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
Gabriel DeCamps (UCF) def. Matteo De Vincentis 7-5, 6-4
Alan Rubio (UCF) def. Carles Sarrio (AU) 6-3, 6-4
Eero Vasa (UCF) def. Olle Thestrup (AU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-1
Mikhail Sokolovskiy (UCF) def. Tad Maclean (AU) 6-4, 7-5
Danny Kerzneman (UCF) def. Brandon Laubser (AU) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
Lovett/Vasa (UCF) def. Nguyen/De Vincentis (AU) 6-4
Thestrup/Maclean (AU) def. Decamps/Sokolovskiy (UCF) 7-6 (7-4)
Sarrio/Diego Chavarria (AU) def. Rubio/Kerznerman (UCF) 6-4
Time of match: 2:38; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 3,4,5,6,1,2
Auburn 4, Samford 0
Singles
Matteo De Vincentis (AU) vs. Jake Faundez (SU) 7-6 (7-4), 2-0 unfinished
Carles Sarrio (AU) def. Justin Ghavami (SU) 6-2, 6-2
Tad Maclean (AU) v Eduardo Lourido (SU) 6-3, 4-1 unfinished
Brandon Laubser (AU) def. Rossouw Norval (SU) 6-0, 6-4
Michael Durham (AU) v Aleksandar Petrovic (SU) 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 unfinished
Lorenzo Rodriguez (AU) def. Max Rebol (SU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
Thestrup/Maclean (AU) def. Faundez/Lourido (SU) 6-1
Sarrio/Diego Chavarria (AU) def. Petrovic/Norval (SU) 6-1
De Vincentis/Alex Rushin (AU) vs. Rebol/Ghavami (SU) 4-2 unfinished
Time of match: 1:35; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 4,2,6 Official: Donna Jerome