Auburn men's tennis closed the regular season decisively with a 4-0 shutout of No. 26 Arkansas Friday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
The match was delayed 1:20 and moved indoors because of rain. Diego Chavarria, Tim Dollman and Tom Wright were honored in pre-match Senior Day ceremonies, along with 2020 senior Michael Durham.
"I told the guys in the locker room this is a must-win match," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "If we want to continue our season and reach the goals we set out, with all the sacrifices along the way, they've got to leave everything out on the court.
"And they did, from the doubles straight on into the singles, every single court, it didn't matter if they were up or down. There was a different sense of concentration; we've got to approach every match like that. We'll watch and see how other matches around the SEC go and see if we get the bye to the second round; the tournament is another opportunity."
Auburn got off to a fast start in doubles. Jan Galka and Tyler Stice made quick work of the Razorbacks with a 6-0 shutout of Nico Rousset and Alex Reco on court three, and then the Tigers clinched the team point with a 6-2 win by Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett (ranked No. 32 nationally) over No. 38 Hunter Harrison and Adrien Burdet on court one.
In singles, Tyler Stice dominated on court one, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead with his 6-1, 6-1 victory over Alex Reco of the Razorbacks. Jan Galka extended the Auburn lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Aleksa Bucan on court four.
The Tigers won the first set in five of six singles matches, with Tim Dollman and Finn Murgett winning in tiebreakers. Dollman was down 5-0 in his match against Maxim Verboven on court two before rallying to tie the score 5-5 and force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Dollman, playing in his final Auburn home match, took the tiebreaker 7-1 and continued play in a close second set when the match was clinched.
On court five, Murgett won his first-set tiebreaker by a 7-3 margin and never looked back, winning his second set 6-2 over Adrian Burdet and clinching the team match for the Tigers.
The Tigers are ranked No. 46 in the latest Oracle ITA coaches' poll and No. 49 in the most recent computer rankings. The Razorbacks are No. 26 in the computer rankings and No. 30 in the coaches' poll.
Friday's match concluded the regular season for the Tigers (7-14, 3-9 SEC); the SEC tournament begins April 19 at Arkansas.
Auburn 4, Arkansas 0
Singles
#36 Tyler Stice (AU) def. Alex Reco (UA) 6-1, 6-1
Tim Dollman (AU) v Maxim Verboven (UA) 7-6 (1), 5-6 unfinished
Tad Maclean (AU) v Nico Rousset (UA) 6-1, 3-6, 2-1 unfinished
Jan Galka (AU) def. Aleksa Bucan (UA) 6-3, 6-0
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Adrien Burdet (UA) 7-6 (3), 6-2
Tom Wright (AU) v Melvin Manuel (UA) 5-7, 5-6 unfinished
Doubles
#32 Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AU) def. #38 Hunter Harrison/Enrique Paya (UA) 6-2
Tom Wright/Maxwell Giddens (AU) v Melvin Manuel/Adrien Burdet (UA) 4-2 unfinished
Tyler Stice/Jan Galka (AU) def. Nico Rousset/Alex Reco (UA) 6-0
Time of match: 2:25; Doubles: 3,1; Singles: 1,4,5; Official: Chris Rodger
