AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn men's tennis team concludes the home portion of its 2019 regular season this weekend hosting No. 18 South Carolina on Friday, April 5, at 3 p.m. and No. 2 Florida on Sunday, April 7, at noon.
"South Carolina is good at 1, 2 and 3, so for us to capitalize, we need to be good at 4, 5 and 6 and put up a fight at 1, 2 and 3," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "Paul Jubb is No. 6 in the country, so it will be a tough test for Matteo (DeVincentis), but no different from previous weeks and Matteo is right there. Tad (Maclean) is coming off a win over a ranked player and is playing well. It will be a battle.
"The Florida Gators – they're at the top of the standings and every one of their players could play near the top of every SEC team, so we've got nothing to lose. We'll go out there and fight to the end and see what happens."
Senior Brandon Laubser will be honored at Friday's match. A four-year letterwinner from Johannesburg, South Africa, Laubser has 65 career wins in singles and 42 in doubles and has been part of 48 team wins for Auburn. An accounting major, he has been recognized as an ITA Scholar-Athlete and an Academic Top Tiger and is a member of the SEC academic honor roll and Chi Alpha Sigma national student-athlete honor society.
"It will be a great weekend, and an exciting time to honor a great student-athlete," Reynolds said. "He's probably the prototypical student-athlete that every coach is looking for. He's got unbelievable grades in accounting, he shows up every day to practice with a smile on his face, he works his tail off in conditioning and lifting and on the tennis court, he gives 110%. He just comes out, works and gives his best. He's been a great leader with the team, and taken on some roles that aren't the most natural for him, but I hope he will take that success on with him after Auburn.
"On senior day, you have emotions, the sadness of losing someone who's been such a key part of your team, but also you're so happy to see what they're going to do next, whether that's continue to play tennis and try the tour or going to get a master's somewhere. Brandon has the opportunity to do both because of how he's set himself up."
Auburn is now 12-15 for the spring season and looking for its first conference win, while South Carolina is 14-6 (4-5 SEC) and Florida is 17-2 (9-0). The Gamecocks are ranked No. 18 in the Oracle/ITA rankings and No. 21 in the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25. The Gators are the highest-rated SEC team nationally, ranked No. 2 by Oracle/ITA and No. 4 by Tennis Channel/USTA.
In the latest Oracle/ITA individual national rankings, Auburn's top doubles tandem of Laubser and Tad Maclean is listed at No. 62 this week, their first national ranking of the spring season. South Carolina's Paul Jubb (6) and Daniel Rodrigues (113) are ranked in singles, and Jubb and Raphael Lambling rank No. 72 in doubles.
Florida has five ranked players in singles: Oliver Crawford (14), Sam Riffice (32), Andy Andrade (43), Johannes Ingildsen (89) and Duarte Vale (109). The Gators have four ranked doubles combinations: Ingildsen and Brian Berdusco (27), Crawford/Andrade (29), Riffice/Andrade (44) and Vale and McClain Kessler (49).
Friday, fans will receive Auburn tennis keychains and t-shirts. Sunday, the first 100 fans will receive free sno-cones and a number of giveaway items will be available. All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (771 Yarbrough Farms Blvd., Auburn) and admission is free.