Auburn men's tennis opened a busy home week with a 6-1 indoor victory over Old Dominion Wednesday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn.
Making their spring debut, Auburn's doubles team of Finn Murgett and Tad Maclean, the NCAA finalists last spring, returned with authority, topping Younes Lalami and Oliver Nolan 6-2 on court one for Auburn's first win.
On court three, Raul Dobai and Maxwell Giddens battled to a 6-4 win over Francois Le Tallec and Yevhen Sirous of the Monarchs to clinch the doubles point for the Tigers.
In singles, Auburn captured the first set in five of six matches, and freshman Will Nolan was the first to put a singles point on the scoreboard for Auburn with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Oliver Nolan on court six.
Junior Jan Galka moved the Auburn lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Luca Maldoner on court two, and Raul Dobai clinched the match for the Tigers with a 6-1, 6-4 victory on court four.
After the match was clinched, Tad Maclean posted a 6-3, 6-4 win on court three and Finn Murgett finished the day winning a third-set tiebreaker 10-5 to post a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 on court five over Codie van Schalkwyk to make the final team score 6-1.
"I loved our doubles," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "ODU is historically a very strong doubles team and this year is no different, so for us to get up quick and get some breaks was a terrific start for us.
"And then I thought we transitioned that well into singles, getting some quick first sets on four, five and six. That kept the pressure on and that effort was what we were looking for.
"I'm excited with how Finn competed, which was on his terms, and Will, playing on six, got the job done for a quick team point. That helped our other guys to see that on the board. We have a deep team and I'm excited about where we're going."
Auburn is now 3-0 for the spring season. Old Dominion is now 1-1; the Monarchs play at No. 1 Tennessee Friday.
The Tigers' homestand continues through the weekend at Yarbrough. Saturday, Auburn entertains Indiana (2-0) at 3 p.m. and Sunday, the Tigers will host Wisconsin (2-0) in a 1 p.m. match.
Vanderbilt is also in town this weekend; the Commodores will play Wisconsin Saturday at 11 a.m. and face Indiana Sunday at 9 a.m. indoors at Yarbrough.
All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (1717 Richland Road, Auburn) and admission is free. Auburn has a mask policy currently in effect campus-wide.
Auburn 6, Old Dominion 1
Singles
#64 Francois Le Tallec (ODU) def. #47 Tyler Stice (AU) 6-3, 6-2
#59 Jan Galka (AU) def. Luca Maldoner (ODU) 6-3, 6-2
#56 Tad Maclean (AU) def. #91 Younes Lalami (ODU) 6-3, 6-4
Raul Dobai (AU) def. Yevhen Sirous (ODU) 6-1, 6-4
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Codie van Schalkwyk (ODU) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)
Will Nolan (AU) def. Oliver Nolan (ODU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
Maclean/Murgett (AU) def. Lalami/Nolan (ODU) 6-2
#28 Galka/Stice (AU) v Maldoner/van Schalkwyk (ODU) 5-3 unfinished
Dobai/Maxwell Giddens (AU) v Le Tallec/Sirous (ODU) 6-4
Time of match: 2:23; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3; Singles: 6,2,4,3,1,5
