Auburn men's tennis picked up an important road win in its first action of the season away from home in a 4-3 win over Georgia Tech Friday at the Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta.
"This was a great team win. We showed up mentally, physically and emotionally and played freely," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "We had some unfinished business from last year and played with a chip on our shoulder today."
A close doubles competition set the tone for the match. Tech took an early lead on all three courts, but Raul Dobai and Maxwell Giddens were able to take charge on court three in a 6-2 win. On court one, Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett came up short to the nation's No. 3-rated tandem of Andres Martin and Marcus McDaniel, leaving the decision on court two, where Auburn's Jan Galka and Tyler Stice roared back to prevail by a 7-5 score, giving the Tigers the important team doubles point.
Finn Murgett led off the scoring in singles, with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Pablo Schlecher on court five to give Auburn a 2-0 lead. Tad Maclean followed up with a decisive 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Keshav Chopra on court three, and freshman Will Nolan once again clinched the team win for Auburn with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Angel Guerrero on court six.
After the team match was clinched at 4-0, the remaining singles matches each went three sets, with Tech taking the win in each of those; the closest contest was on court one, where Tyler Stice won a second-set tiebreaker 7-5 and fell in the third tiebreak set 11-9 to the nation's No. 9-ranked player, Andres Martin.
Auburn is now 5-0 for the spring season, while Georgia Tech is 3-2. The Tigers return home for matches with South Alabama on Friday, February 11, and with Tulane and Alabama State on Sunday, February 13.
Auburn 4, Georgia Tech 3
Singles
#9 Andres Martin (GT) def. #47 Tyler Stice (AU) 6-3, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (9)
Marcus McDaniel (GT) def. #59 Jan Galka (AU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
#56 Tad Maclean (AU) def. Keshav Chopra (GT) 6-4, 6-2
Chen Dong (GT) def. Raul Dobai (AU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Pablo Schlecher (GT) 6-1, 6-0
Will Nolan (AU) def. Angel Guerrero (GT) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
#3 Martin/McDaniel (GT) def. Murgett/Maclean (AU) 6-3
#28 Galka/Stice (AU) def. Chopra/Schlecher (GT) 7-5
Dobai/Maxwell Giddens (AU) def. Dong/Guerrero (GT) 6-2
Time of match: 2:34; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1,2; Singles: 5,3,6,2,4,1