Auburn men's tennis faces its first road action of the spring season in a 4 p.m. CT match Friday against Georgia Tech at the Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta.
Auburn is now 4-0 for the spring season, while Georgia Tech is 3-1.
"It's a big match for us. Georgia Tech is going to be a top 25 team and they're very, very good at doubles," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "They're coached very well by Kenny Thorne, and he was a top 50 doubles player for a long time on tour, so he understands the game of doubles, old-school doubles of the serve and volley, where we're coming to the net and we're going to put pressure on you from the beginning. There's no rallying cross-court. There's no trying to get advantage of the point from the baseline and then set up our net guy. It is literally we're going to be the first ones to get the net and hopefully hold the net. We know that going in.
"We know this team well. They have a lot of players that our team has played against, whether it was in the fall or the last couple years, and it's a match that we've got to be ready for. I like our position. We're coming in at 4-0 with a lot of confidence and a lot of belief in ourselves, and that has to show on the court for us to remain successful."
In the latest ITA national rankings, three Tigers are ranked in singles: Tyler Stice (47), Tad Maclean (56) and Jan Galka (59). Stice was an NCAA singles qualifier last season, and Maclean was runner-up at last fall's ITA Southern Regionals, advancing to the national fall championships. In doubles, NCAA doubles runners-up Maclean and Finn Murgett return and Stice and Galka are ranked No. 28.
Andres Martin of Georgia Tech is ranked ninth in singles and, paired with Marcus McDaniel, is ranked No. 3 in doubles.
The Tigers return home next weekend for matches with South Alabama on Friday, February 11, and with Tulane and Alabama State on Sunday, February 13.
