No. 27 Auburn men's tennis ran into a determined No. 9 South Carolina squad, falling 6-1 to the Gamecocks Friday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Despite the breezy weather, Auburn's top tandem of Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett were on target to start doubles, posting a 4-0 lead over No. 28 Daniel Rodrigues and Connor Thomson en route to an eventual 6-1 win. The Gamecocks were 6-2 winners in match three, so, as has become customary, the doubles point came down to Jan Galka and Tyler Stice.
Galka and Stice kept coming from behind to tie their match against Raphael Lambling and James Story, from 2-2 then 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5, forcing a tiebreaker at 6-all. That extra period was equally close, before Lambling and Story edged ahead from a 5-5 tie to win 7-6 (5) and capture the team doubles point.
In singles, the Gamecocks carried that momentum through, winning five of six first sets. Finn Murgett was Auburn's lone winner with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Carter Morgan on court six.
Despite a comeback effort from Tyler Stice against the nation's third-ranked player Daniel Rodrigues, as Stice came from a 1-5 deficit in the second set to force a tiebreaker at 6-6, the Gamecocks won five of the singles matches, making the final score 6-1.
Auburn is 17-6 for the spring season, 5-4 in SEC play and ranked No. 27 in the latest ITA team ratings and No. 24 in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25. No. 9 South Carolina is 19-5 overall and 8-2 in conference action.
Sunday, Auburn entertains No. 3 Florida (17-2, 9-0 SEC) at noon and Samford (4-12) at 5 p.m. Fans will receive free Kona Ice at the noon match and free Zoner's pizza at the later match while supplies last.
Senior Tad Maclean will be honored during the Florida match. Maclean, with 69 career doubles wins, now ranks ninth all-time among Auburn career leaders in that category, and his 133 combined career wins rank 13th in Auburn history.
All Auburn home tennis action is at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (1717 Richland Road, Auburn) and admission is free.
#9 South Carolina 6, #27 Auburn 1
Singles
#3 Daniel Rodrigues (USC) def. #46 Tyler Stice (AU) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
#66 Toby Samuel (USC) def. Jan Galka (AU) 6-3, 6-0
Connor Thomson (USC) def. Tad Maclean (AU) 7-5, 6-1
Raphael Lambling (USC) def. Raul Dobai (AU) 6-4, 6-2
James Story (USC) def. Will Nolan (AU) 6-1, 6-4
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Carter Morgan (USC) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
#36 Murgett/Maclean (AU) def. #28 Rodrigues/Thomson (USC) 6-1
Lambling/Story (USC) def. Galka/Stice (AU) 7-6 (5)
Samuel/Casey Hoole (USC) def. Dobai/Jackson Ross (AU) 6-2
Time of match: 3:01; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 2,5,6,3,4,1; Official: Donna Jerome
