No. 47 Auburn played another long match at No. 8 Texas A&M Friday evening at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. The Aggies won 5-2, but the Tigers extended three matches into third sets and forced five tiebreakers throughout the three hours and 40 minutes of action.
Texas A&M won the doubles point, although Auburn had matches tied at 5-5 on courts two and three before the point was clinched on courts one and two. In singles, Tyler Stice and Jan Galka battled through tiebreakers in each of their first two sets; Stice extended his match into a third set on court one before Valentin Vacherot, ranked No. 5 nationally, prevailed 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Sophomore Finn Murgett was the first to get Auburn on the scoreboard with a 6-4, 6-4 straight-set victory over Guido Marson on court four.
Sophomore Spencer Gray on court six and junior Tad Maclean on court two each took his first set and went into a third stanza of play against the No. 8 Aggies. Gray shut out Bjorn Thomson 7-0 in a third-set tiebreaker to win his match 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (0), giving Auburn its second point of the evening.
Sunday, Auburn (6-11 overall, 2-6 SEC) visits No. 39 LSU (10-8, 2-5 SEC) for a noon match at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, La. Texas A&M is now 13-4 overall (5-3 SEC).
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.
Texas A&M 5, Auburn 2
Singles
#5 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. #42 Tyler Stice (AU) 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3
#71 Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. Tad Maclean (AU) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
#108 Pierce Rollins (TAMU) def. Jan Galka (AU) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1)
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Guido Marson (TAMU) 6-4, 6-4
Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. Maxwell Giddens (AU) 6-2, 6-3
Spencer Gray (AU) def. Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (0)
Doubles
Valentin Vacherot/Pierce Rollins (TAMU) def. #41 Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AU) 6-3
Bjorn Thomson/Kenner Taylor (TAMU) def. Tom Wright/Maxwell Giddens (AU) 7-5
Tyler Stice/Jan Galka (AU) v Pravav Kumar/Noah Schachter (TAMU) 5-6 unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles: 1,2; Singles: 5,3,4,2,6,1