AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn men's tennis team fell 4-0 to No. 49 Kentucky Sunday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Kentucky won the doubles point with victories on courts three and one, but Auburn got first-set wins in singles from freshman Tyler Stice on court two and junior Tom Wright on court three; Wright won a first set tiebreaker by a 7-5 count.
The Tigers kept battling through the second sets. Diego Chavarria forced a second set tiebreaker on court six, but came up short in that by a 7-4 count, and Kentucky clinched the match.
"I'm seeing positives in specific people and specific times, but we have to have six," Auburn coach Bobby Reynolds said. "We have to have six that are coming out in doubles and six that are coming out in singles. We can't have four, we can't have five -- we have to have six. That's why you play in the SEC -- it's for this type of competition. It's about showing up for every single match and that's what we have to do a better job of doing."
Auburn is now 9-10; Kentucky is 12-5 (3-1 SEC). The Tigers' next match is on the road Sunday, March 15, at No. 17 Alabama.
Kentucky 4, Auburn 0
Singles
Liam Draxl (UK) def. Tim Dollman (AUB) 6-1, 6-0
Tyler Stice (AUB) v Millen Hurrion (UK) 6-4, 3-4 unfinished
Tom Wright (AUB) v Cesar Bourgois (UK) 7-6 (5), 2-6 unfinished
Finn Murgett (AUB) v #83 Alexandre LeBlanc (UK) 5-7, 3-5 unfinished
Kento Yamada (UK) def. Spencer Gray (AUB) 6-0, 6-1
Kevin Huempfner (UK) def. Diego Chavarria (AUB) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
Doubles
Bourgois/Draxl (UK) def. Wright/Murgett (AUB) 6-2
Dollman/Stice (AUB) v LeBlanc/Kevin Huempfner (UK) 3-4 unfinished
Hurrion/Ying-Ze Chen (UK) def. Chavarria/Anders Fry (AUB) 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1; Singles: 1,5,6; Time of match: 2:06; Official: Donna Jerome