AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn split a men's tennis doubleheader Friday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center, defeating The Citadel 7-0 after a close 4-3 loss to No. 22 Florida State.
Against the Seminoles, Diego Chavarria and Anders Fry continued their winning ways in doubles, posting a 6-0 victory on court three over Chase Wood and Bryn Nahrung; the Auburn duo is now 9-0 for the season. Tight matches followed on courts one and two, but after the Seminoles were 6-3 winners on court one, Tom Wright and Finn Murgett forced a tiebreaker on court two, and won that extra stanza 7-3 to clinch the doubles point for the Tigers.
In singles, Matteo DeVincentis put the first points on the board for Auburn, with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Marcus Walters on court four. Spencer Gray and Tyler Stice each captured the first set for Auburn, but the Seminoles were eventual winners on courts five, two and one before Stice came from down 1-4 in his third set to defeat Sebastian Arcila 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 and tie the match at 3-3. Gray, whose first two sets were decided by tiebreakers, fell short in the third set 6-4 to nationally ranked Rana-Roop Bhullar and Florida State clinched the road victory.
"These guys are fighting until the end," Auburn coach Bobby Reynolds said. "With Tyler, he was up a set and break early – you could look back and say he could have closed out the second set, and then he gets down in the third. College tennis is so much about momentum and winning the deuce points and some of those big key moments, but whatever Tyler's score is, that guy's never out of it. He will fight to the very end. That's what it takes."
In the nightcap against The Citadel, Auburn captured the doubles point again, extending its record in doubles to 9-0 this season, with wins by Chavarria and Fry and by Stice and Matteo DeVincentis.
In singles, the Tigers took the first set in five of six matches. Playing on court one, DeVincentis was a 6-0, 6-1 winner over Gavin Stewart, Finn Murgett followed up with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Will Graham on court two, and Chavarria clinched the win with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Jack Pyritz on court six.
After the match was clinched, Spencer Gray, Michael Durham and Anders Fry completed the sweep with singles wins.
Auburn is now 7-2 for the spring season, while Florida State is 7-2 and The Citadel is 2-7.
On Sunday, the Tigers travel to Atlanta for an 11 a.m. match at Georgia Tech.
#22 Florida State 4, Auburn 3
Singles
#56 Alex Knaff (FSU) def. Tim Dollman (AUB) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
Juan Martin Jalif (FSU) def. Tom Wright (AUB) 6-3, 6-1
Tyler Stice (AUB) def. Sebastian Arcila (FSU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
Matteo DeVincentis (AUB) def. Marcus Walters (FSU) 6-4, 6-4
Loris Pourroy (FSU) def. Finn Murgett (AUB) 6-1, 6-2
#108 Rana-Roop Bhullar (FSU) def. Spencer Gray (AUB) 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
Doubles
Knaff/Arcila (FSU) def. DeVincentis/Stice (AUB) 6-3
Wright/Murgett (AUB) def. Jalif/Pourroy (FSU) 7-6 (7-3)
Diego Chavarria/Anders Fry (AUB) def. Chase Wood/Bryn Nahrung (FSU) 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1,2; Singles: 5,2,4,1,3,6; Official: Donna Jerome
Auburn 7, The Citadel 0
Singles
Matteo DeVincentis (AUB) def. Gavin Stewart (CIT) 6-0, 6-1
Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Will Graham (CIT) 6-1, 6-2
Spencer Gray (AUB) def. Noah Nawabi (CIT) 6-3, 6-3
Anders Fry (AUB) def. Phillip Quinn (CIT) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-2)
Michael Durham (AUB) def. Zvonko Bencedic (CIT) 6-1, 7-5
Diego Chavarria (AUB) def. Jack Pyritz (CIT) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
DeVincentis/Stice (AUB) def. Stewart/Bencedic (CIT) 6-1
Diego Chavarria/Anders Fry (AUB) v Willem van Zyl/Leo du Plooy (CIT) 6-1
#55 Tim Dollman/Michael Durham (AUB) v Nawabi/Quinn (CIT) 3-3 unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2; Singles: 1,2,6,3,5,4