The Auburn men's tennis team opens the spring season Sunday hosting the Samford Bulldogs in a 2 p.m. CT indoor match at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
The Tigers return eight players with experience from last season: Tyler Stice, Tad Maclean, Finn Murgett, Tom Wright, Tim Dollman, Spencer Gray, Diego Chavarria and Anders Fry. Auburn has added newcomers Maxwell Giddens, Jackson Ross and newly eligible transfer Jan Galka from Louisiana-Lafayette.
"We'll probably only be playing with seven guys for our first match, just because of guys coming back late and needing those 14 days before they compete," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "But those seven guys will be strong, with Tyler and Jan and Tad and Finn and Tom and Tim and Max – so seven strong guys and the core of our doubles.
"Our doubles in the fall were great – we beat almost every SEC team in doubles and that was without Jan playing, so I'm excited to see how we pick up, but I'm also excited because I think we've solidified what we think our matchups will be for the entire spring from one to three. I'm excited about that.
"We're going to be deep. When everybody comes back, we're going to have a lot of guys fighting for the four, five and six positions. That's exciting as a coach – maybe a little uncertainly as a player as to where you fit in that lineup, but I think competition is great, because cream rises to the top.
"The first couple matches, we'll just be getting our feet wet; the guys have not played a lot of matches in the past 10 weeks due to the restrictions back at home. We'll be getting our feet wet, getting those butterflies out, and ultimately getting ready for mid-February when we get into conference play."
This will be the first of 10 home dates for Auburn this spring. The Tigers competed in three SEC-only tournament-style events during the fall semester.
Sunday's action will be played indoors and admission is limited to only participants and officials. All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (1717 Richland Road, Auburn) and fans wearing face coverings are welcome to attend any matches played outdoors.