No. 39 Auburn failed to capture the doubles point against No. 20 Georgia and that was enough margin for the Bulldogs to post a 4-3 SEC men's tennis win Sunday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Georgia was able to wrestle the doubles point away from Auburn with wins in matches one and two, only the second SEC match all season where the Tigers did not win the doubles competition.
Although Auburn's Jan Galka was the first to finish in singles with a 6-2, 6-3 straight-set win over Blake Croyder on court four, the Bulldogs posted singles wins on courts two and five to take a 3-1 match lead.
The remaining three matches were extremely tight. On court six, Auburn freshman Maxwell Giddens pulled out another three-set victory, prevailing 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 over Erik Grevelius. On court one, sophomore Tyler Stice came from behind to force another episode of his third-set heroics and then take that third set to a tiebreaker, upsetting No. 9-ranked Trent Bryde by a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) score. With those two wins, the Tigers were tied for a short period at 3-3, before Georgia's Philip Henning, ranked No. 18 nationally, won a tiebreaker in his third set against Auburn's Tad Maclean on court four, taking the extra period 7-5 and clinching the match 4-3 for Georgia.
Auburn is now 6-9, 2-5 in SEC play, and Georgia is 8-4, 3-4 in SEC action. Next weekend, the Tigers play a non-conference match Friday at No. 30 Tulane.
Georgia 4, Auburn 3
Singles
Tyler Stice (AU) def. #9 Trent Bryde (UGA) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
#73 Tyler Zink (UGA) def. Tim Dollman (AU) 6-4, 6-4
#18 Philip Henning (UGA) def. Tad Maclean (AU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5)
Jan Galka (AU) def. Blake Croyder (UGA) 6-2, 6-3
Billy Rowe (UGA) def. Finn Murgett (AU) 7-5, 6-2
Maxwell Giddens (AU) def. Erik Grevelius (UGA) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
#8 Trent Bryde/Tyler Zink (UGA) def. Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AU) 6-3
Billy Rowe/Blake Croyder (UGA) def. Tom Wright/Maxwell Giddens (AU) 6-4
Jan Galka/Tyler Stice (AU) v Philip Henning/Erik Grevelius (UGA) 3-4 unfinished
Time of match: 3:19; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 4,2,5,1,6,3