In its first outdoor match of the spring season, Auburn was in a tight competition with Louisville before the Cardinals outlasted the Tigers for a 4-1 win Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn.
Auburn captured the doubles point in dramatic fashion. On court three, Jan Galka and Tyler Stice took an early lead over Josh Howard-Tripp and Alex Westbrooks and stayed in front for a 6-3 victory. After Louisville was a winner on court two, Auburn's Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett broke a 5-5 deadlock to post a 7-5 win and earn the team point for the Tigers.
In singles, four of the six matches went into a third set before the Cardinals took the team win by a 4-1 score. Tim Dollman, playing on court one, and Maxwell Giddens, playing on court six, each won their first sets in singles, while Jan Galka and Tad Maclean each won in the second set to force third sets in their matches on courts three and four. Tyler Stice, playing on court two, was in a tiebreaker to force a third set, but fell 8-6 in that tiebreaker.
The Tigers are now 2-3; Louisville is 5-0. Next weekend, the Tigers are in Tallahassee, Fla., for matches against Florida State on Friday afternoon and Miami on Saturday morning. That will be Auburn's last tune-up before SEC play begins February 19 at South Carolina.
Louisville 4, Auburn 1
Singles
#71 Tin Chen (UL) def. Tim Dollman (AU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Sergio Hernandez (UL) def. Tyler Stice (AU) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
Jan Galka (AU) v Fabien Salle (UL) 6-2, 1-6, 4-5 unfinished
Josh Howard-Tripp (UL) def. Tad Maclean (AU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Matthew Fung (UL) def. Finn Murgett (AU) 6-3, 6-4
Maxwell Giddens (AU) v Clement Filho (UL) 6-3, 5-7, 2-1 unfinished
Doubles
Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AU) def. Matthew Fung/Fabien Salle (UL) 7-5
Tin Chen/Sergio Hernandez (UL) def. Tom Wright/Maxwell Giddens (AU) 6-3
Jan Galka/Tyler Stice (AU) def. Josh Howard-Tripp/Alex Westbrooks (UL) 6-3
Time of match: 2:49; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2,1; Singles: 5,2,1,4; Official: Donna Jerome