The Auburn men's tennis team won two tiebreakers in doubles to establish momentum en route to a 7-0 win over Old Dominion Saturday morning indoors at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility in Clemson, S.C.
"Our entire team came out ready to play from the first ball," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "We need to clean up a few areas in doubles and commit to being aggressive when the opportunity presents itself. We tightened the crews on big points and came out with a huge momentum doubles point.
"That enthusiasm and belief transitioned into singles, where we took five first set. I challenged out guys against a Top 35 team to make a statement and they did."
Tom Wright and Maxwell Giddens forced a tiebreaker in doubles play on court two, and outlasted ODU's Younes Lalami and Jannik Giesse 11-9 in the extra play to win the match. The Tigers then clinched the doubles point when Tyler Stice and Jan Galka captured an 8-6 tiebreaker on court three over ODU's Pearse Dolan and Tomislav Podvinski.
In singles, the Tigers took five of the six first sets, two of those by tiebreakers; Tad Maclean captured his first-set tiebreak 7-3 on court two and Maxwell Giddens took his 7-5 on court six. Transfer Jan Galka was first to put a singles point on the board for Auburn, winning 6-1, 7-5 over Nicola Vidal on court three.
Finn Murgett, with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Younes Lalami on court four, and Maclean, winning 7-6, 6-3 on court two, clinched the team win for the Tigers.
Giddens, Stice and Spencer Gray were winners in the remaining singles matches.
The Tigers are now 2-0 on the season; Old Dominion is 0-1.
Sunday morning, Auburn faces South Florida at 9 a.m. CT. Fans can follow live scoring and video at ClemsonTigers.com.
Auburn will return home on Sunday, January 31, for a 1 p.m. match against Georgia Tech. at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Auburn 7, Old Dominion 0
Singles
Tyler Stice (AU) def. Luca Maldoner (ODU) 7-5, 1-6, 6-2
Tad Maclean (AU) def. Tomislav Podvinski (ODU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
Jan Galka (AU) def. Nicola Vidal (ODU) 6-1, 7-5
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Younes Lalami (ODU) 6-4, 6-4
Spencer Gray (AU) def. Pearse Dolan (ODU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Maxwell Giddens (AU) def. Jannik Giesse (ODU) 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 1-0 (10-3)
Doubles
#25 Luca Maldoner/Nicola Vidal (ODU) def. Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AU) 6-3
Tom Wright/Maxwell Giddens (AU) def. Younes Lalami/Jannik Giesse (ODU) 7-6 (11-9)
Tyler Stice/Jan Galka (AU) v Pearse Dolan/Tomislav Podvinski (ODU) 7-6 (8-6)
Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2,3; Singles: 3,4,2,6,1,5; Time of match: 3:11
