Auburn men's tennis fought through another close contest as the Tigers were on the short end of a 4-3 decision against No. 9 Ole Miss Friday afternoon in an SEC match at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Auburn scored first in doubles, as Jan Galka and Tyler Stice defeated Jan Soren Hain and Jakob Cadonau 6-1 on court three, but Ole Miss clinched the team doubles point. The Rebels' top tandem of Tim Sandkaulen and Finn Reynolds, ranked No. in the nation, topped Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett by a 6-4 score, and Simon Junk and Brady Draheim were 6-3 winners over the Tigers' Tom Wright and Maxwell Giddens.
In singles, Ole Miss scored the first three points but the Tigers won the remaining contests. Jan Galka put the first point on the board for Auburn with a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Simon Junk on court four, and then Tyler Stice downed #55 Tim Sandkaulen in a second-set tiebreaker by a 7-4 count to post a 6-3, 7-6 victory on court one.
Finn Murgett closed out the day for Auburn battling his way to a 7-5, 7-5 win over Jakob Cadonau on court five to make the final team score 4-3.
Sunday, the Tigers (6-13, 2-8 SEC) travel to No. 15 Mississippi State (12-6, 2-5 SEC) for a 1 p.m. match in Starkville. Ole Miss is now 9-7 (6-3 SEC).
Ole Miss 4, Auburn 3
Singles
#36 Tyler Stice (AU) v #55 Tim Sandkaulen (UM) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
#32 Nicola Slavic (UM) def. Tim Dollman (AU) 6-4, 6-3
John Hallquist Lithen (UM) def. Tad Maclean (AU) 6-2, 6-3
Jan Galka (AU) def. Simon Junk (UM) 6-3, 6-4
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Jakob Cadonau (UM) 7-5, 7-5
Jan Soren Hain (UM) def. Maxwell Giddens (AU) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
#1 Tim Sandkaulen/Finn Reynolds (UM) def. #32 Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AU) 6-4
Simon Junk/Brady Draheim (UM) def. Tom Wright/Maxwell Giddens (AU) 6-3
Jan Galka/Tyler Stice (AU) def. Jan Soren Hain/Jakob Candonau (UM) 6-1
Time of match: 2:24; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2,1; Singles: 3,2,6,4,1,5; Official: Donna Jerome