No. 39 Auburn came up just short Friday afternoon at No. 27 Tulane in a 4-3 non-conference loss. The match was played at the City Park Tennis Center in New Orleans. The Tigers, facing their sixth consecutive higher-ranked opponent, lost by a one-point margin for the third straight match.
With two courts going to tiebreakers, Auburn captured the doubles point for the 13th time in 16 matches. Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett were 6-4 winners over Hamish Stewart and Ewan Moore on court one. Courts two and three went into extra play; Tulane winning the tiebreaker 7-3 on court three, handing Jan Galka and Tyler Stice just their second doubles loss of the season. Auburn clinched the point with an 8-6 tiebreak score by Tom Wright and Maxwell Giddens on court two over Akos Kotorman and Billy Suarez.
Behind nationally ranked players Hamish Stewart and Ewan Moore, Tulane picked up the first two points in singles play, but then Jan Galka tied the match 2-2 for Auburn with a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Billy Suarez on court four, winning a tiebreaker 7-4.
The remaining three matches went three sets. Although Auburn's Finn Murgett prevailed on court five 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3 on court five, the Green Wave captured the team win with a victory on court six and then a tiebreaker win in the third set by a 7-5 margin on court three.
Auburn, now 6-10, returns to SEC action next weekend at No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 42 LSU. The Tigers' next home match is Friday, April 2, against No. 18 Ole Miss. Tulane is now 9-5.
Tulane 4, Auburn 3
Singles
#40 Hamish Stewart (TU) def. Tyler Stice (AU) 6-4, 6-4
#53 Ewan Moore (TU) def. Tim Dollman (AU) 6-2, 6-2
Luis Erlenbusch (TU) def. Tad Maclean (AU) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5)
Jan Galka (AU) def. Billy Suarez (TU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
Finn Murgett (AU) v Rafael De Alba (TU) 6-2, 6-7 (7-2), 6-3
Akos Kotorman (TU) def. Maxwell Giddens (AU) 0-6, 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AU) def. Hamish Stewart/Ewan Moore (TU) 6-4
Tom Wright/Maxwell Giddens (AU) def. Akos Kotorman/Billy Suarez (TU) 7-6 (8-6)
Luis Erlenbusch/Benji Jacobson (TU) def. Jan Galka/Tyler Stice (AU) 7-6 (7-3)
Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 2,1,4,6,3,5