No. 30 Auburn men's tennis saw its SEC tournament run come to an end in a 4-1 loss to No. 11 Kentucky Saturday in the SEC semifinals at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
"I'm so proud of these guys," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "It doesn't matter that we were playing Top 10 teams, it doesn't matter that none of them have been to the SEC semifinals before – we are gaining experience and confidence and believing in ourselves individually and as a team.
"We haven't been in this position before—we've notched a lot of firsts this season – but that's ok. We've learned from the good, the bad and the emotions, and no moment was too big for us. We'll be better for it and this experience will pay off in a couple of weeks in the NCAA tournament. After playing all these Top 10 teams, we won't be intimidated or unprepared."
Saturday, Kentucky took the doubles point with wins on courts two and three, both by 6-3 scores, and the Wildcats took five of the six first sets in singles and posted straight set wins on courts five and three.
Finn Murgett got the Tigers on the board with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Francois Musitelli on court four, and Spencer Gray forced a third set on court six to extend the match, as did Tyler Stice on court one. But Gabriel Diallo was able to finish his match with Jan Galka 6-4, 7-5 on court two before those others concluded and clinch the match for the Wildcats.
Auburn is 20-10 for the spring season and finished 5-7 in SEC play; this is Auburn's first 20-win season since 2002. The Tigers are ranked No. 30 in the latest ITA team ratings and No. 25 in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25. No. 11 Kentucky is now 21-6 and will face Tennessee or Florida in the SEC final Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
#11 Kentucky 4, #30 Auburn 1
Singles
#28 Tyler Stice (AU) v #8 Liam Draxl (UK) 4-6, 6-2, 0-1 unfinished
#16 Gabriel Diallo (UK) def. Jan Galka (AU) 6-4, 7-5
#102 Millen Hurrion (UK) def. Tad Maclean (AU) 6-1, 6-3
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Francois Musitelli (UK) 6-4, 6-2
#108 Joshua Lapadat (UK) def. Will Nolan (AU) 6-2, 6-2
Spencer Gray (AU) v JJ Mercer (UK) 3-6, 6-2, 5-1 unfinished
Doubles
#11 Maclean/Murgett (AU) v #75 Musitelli/Hurrion (UK) 5-4 unfinished
Galka/Stice (AU) v Diallo/Lapadat (UK) def. Galka/Stice (AU) 6-3
Draxl/Leblanc (UK) def. Maxwell Giddens/Jackson Ross (AU) 6-3
Time of match: 2:26; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2; Singles: 5,3,4,2