No. 47 Auburn returns to SEC action this weekend with a pair of road matches.
Friday, the Tigers (6-10 overall, 2-5 SEC) play at Texas A&M (12-4, 4-3 SEC) in a 6 p.m. match at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. The Aggies are No. 8 in the Oracle ITA national rankings and No. 10 in the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25.
Sunday, Auburn visits No. 39 LSU (10-8, 2-5 SEC) for a noon match at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, La.
"We have five matches left in the regular season and really, five matches that are all winnable. That's the great thing – this year, maybe minus Florida, there's a lot of parity," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "We're playing all these teams close and having a chance to win. Yes, 4-3 matches are tough, losing is tough, but our guys are so young, they are so hungry, and the juniors and seniors on the team have never been in this situation – to be so close so many times for a win, it gives them more energy and passion to come back and go again the next week.
"You take a look at Texas A&M – historically, they're very good in doubles and playing in College Station with drier air, the ball's going to fly. The courts are a little bit quicker there, so we have to be ready for more offensive tennis. When we look at the singles positions 1-6, with the exception of their number one guy, who is a fifth-year senior, they've had all kinds of results, so we just have to be ready to go and play our style of tennis.
"If you look at LSU, obviously playing away makes it very challenging; the weather there in Baton Rouge can be humid and hot and lead to slow courts kind of like we have here. They have a very talented young team, and when they're all clicking, I imagine they're going to be very tough, so we have to be ready. If we can get the doubles point at LSU and make them play from behind, I like our chances that way. We'll stick with the doubles as we've been successful on the year and keep going."
Auburn's top singles player, sophomore Tyler Stice, is No. 41 in this week's Oracle ITA national rankings, while the Tigers' top doubles tandem of Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett rank No. 41 nationally.
Texas A&M has six played ranked among the top 125 in singles, and the Aggies' top doubles team, Juan Carlos Aguilar and Bjorn Thomson, is ranked No. 11. LSU's Ronnie Hohmann is ranked No. 61 in singles.
The Tigers' next home match is Friday, April 2, against No. 9 Ole Miss. First serve is 2 p.m. at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn.