The No. 25 Auburn men's tennis team posted wins over No. 66 Nebraska and No. 48 Tulane to complete its 2-1 showing at the 74th annual Blue Gray National Tennis Classic played at Lagoon Park and the O'Connor Tennis Center in Montgomery, Ala., Friday and Saturday.
"I'm pleased with how we finished; we needed to get back to the winning side of things," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "We fought against VCU but often it seemed we were fighting ourselves, and I think we did a better job of avoiding that against Nebraska and Tulane. We need to carry that going forward. When we're fighting cohesively as a unit, we're pretty tough to beat, but when we're disjointed, certain guys feel more pressure than they should and that works against us."
Auburn's first match came against VCU; it was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday but continuing showers postponed the start several times until 3 p.m. The teams began with singles play at Lagoon Park, and VCU held the early advantage, winning three of six first sets and posting straight-set wins on courts five, three and one. Jan Galka gave Auburn its first team point with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Maxcense Bertimon on court two, and Will Nolan came through with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Joaquim Almeida on court six to cut the Rams' advantage to 3-2.
On court four, Auburn's Raul Dobai won his first set 7-6 with a 7-4 tiebreaker, and his second set also went to a tiebreaker, which Dobai won 7-1 to win his match and tie the team score.
With a 3-3 tie, the teams were forced to play doubles to decide the match, and the Rams continued their early momentum, with Almeida and Bobichon posting a 6-4 win over Dobai and Maxwell Giddens on court three, and then Charles and Maxcense Bertimon won a tiebreaker 7-2 to post a 7-6 win over Murgett and Maclean on court one to clinch the team win.
Auburn went across town to the O'Connor Tennis Center Friday evening to play the doubles portion of the match with No. 66 Nebraska. Dobai and Giddens were quick 6-1 winners over Parick Cacciatore and Calvin Mueller on court three, and Murgett and Maclean clinched the point with a 6-3 victory on court one over Victor Moreno Lozano and Nic Wiedenhorn.
Saturday at noon, the match resumed with singles play. The Tigers won four of six first sets, and got team points from Tad Maclean on court three over William Gleason (6-2, 6-2), from Finn Murgett on court five over Wiederhorn (6-4, 6-1) and the clincher by Galka on court two over Mueller (6-1, 6-4).
Saturday evening at O'Connor, the Tigers got a quick point in doubles. Murgett and Maclean were 6-1 winners on court one and Galka and Stice clinched the point with a 6-3 victory on court two.
The singles competition was grueling, with four of the six matches going to a third set. Auburn got a straight set win on court four from Raul Dobai, who won a pair of 6-4 sets to defeat Luka Petrovic. Tyler Stice added a win on court one, taking a second-set tiebreaker to prevail 6-4, 7-6 (4) over Luc Hoeijmans, and Jan Galka clinched the match by coming from behind in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Alex Bancila.
Auburn is 10-1 for the spring season, the best start for the Tigers since the 2005 campaign. The Tigers are ranked No. 25 in the latest ITA team ratings. In the latest ITA individual rankings, the Tigers continue to have three ranked players in singles: Tad Maclean (45), Tyler Stice (87) and Jan Galka (100).
Next up, Auburn opens SEC play at home Friday when the Tigers host LSU in a 10 a.m. match. All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (1717 Richland Road, Auburn) and admission is free.
VCU 4, #25 Auburn 3
Singles
Charles Bertimon (VCU) def. #87 Tyler Stice (AU) 6-3, 6-3
#100 Jan Galka (AU) def. Maxcense Bertimon (VCU) 6-1, 6-3
Inigo Martin Torre (VCU) def. #45 Tad Maclean (AU) 6-4, 6-1
Raul Dobai (AU) def. Rayane Stable (VCU) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1)
Matisse Bobichon (VCU) def. Finn Murgett (AU) 6-3, 6-4
Will Nolan (AU) def. Joaquim Almeida (VCU) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
#44 Bertimon/Bertimon (VCU) def. Murgett/Maclean (AU) 7-6 (2)
Galka/Stice (AU) v Stable/Torre Martin (VCU) unfinished
Almeida/Bobichon (VCU) def. Dobai/Maxwell Giddens (AU) 6-4
#25 Auburn 4, #66 Nebraska 0
Singles (played Saturday)
#87 Tyler Stice (AU) v Dario Huber (NEB) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 unfinished
#100 Jan Galka (AU) def. Calvin Mueller (NEB) 6-1, 6-4
#45 Tad Maclean (AU) def. William Gleason (NEB) 6-2, 6-2
Raul Dobai (AU) v Shunya Maruyama (NEB) 6-7 (2), 2-1 unfinished
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) 6-4, 6-1
Will Nolan (AU) v Victor Moreno Lozano (NEB) 5-7, 1-0 unfinished
Doubles (played Friday)
Murgett/Maclean (AU) def. Lozano/Wiedenhorn (NEB) 6-3
Galka/Stice (AU) v Huber/Maruyama (NEB) 4-5 unfinished
Dobai/Maxwell Giddens (AU) def. Patrick Cacciatore/Mueller (NEB) 6-1
#25 Auburn 4, #48 Tulane 0
Singles
#87 Tyler Stice (AU) def. Luc Hoeijmans (TU) 6-4, 7-6 (4)
#100 Jan Galka (AU) def. Alex Bancila (TU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
#45 Tad Maclean (AU) v Fynn Kuenkler (TU) 6-3, 4-6, 2-2 unfinished
Raul Dobai (AU) def. Luka Petrovic (TU) 6-4, 6-4
Will Nolan (AU) v Rafael de Alba (TU) 6-0, 6-7, 1-0 unfinished
Finn Murgett (AU) v Charlie Barry (TU) 6-3, 2-6, 4-0 unfinished
Doubles
Murgett/Maclean (AU) def. Barry/Benji Jacobson (TU) 6-1
Galka/Stice (AU) def. Kuenkler/Hoeijmans (TU) 6-3
Dobai/Maxwell Giddens (AU) v Billy Suarez/de Alba (TU) 4-4 unfinished