The No. 24 Auburn men's tennis team battled the Red Raiders and the elements in a 4-1 win over No. 41 Texas Tech Friday in the first round of NCAA play at the Wake Forest Tennis Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. The win, Auburn's first in NCAA tournament action since 2012, was marked by an hour delay during singles for a tornado warning.
"Our team is moving on! We were able to fight through nervous energy to start the doubles matches and find a way to get 1-0 on the scoreboard," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "We applied scoreboard pressure early at No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6, which allowed No. 2 and No. 3 to scrap out first-set wins.
"Give credit to our guys for battling through some ill-timed weather and staying mentally engaged during the one-hour break. After going indoors, we were able to put our foot on their necks and never let up."
In customary fashion, Auburn won the doubles point. The Tigers' No. 6-ranked tandem of Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett easily handled No. 86 Isaac Arevalo and Piotr Pawlak by a 6-3 score, and on court three, Raul Dobai and Jackson Ross won a tiebreaker 7-5 to win 7-6 on court six.
In singles, freshman Will Nolan was first on the scoreboard with a 6-1, 6-1 sprint over Tech's Piotr Pawlak, giving Nolan 20 singles wins for the season. On court one, Tyler Stice was ahead 5-2 in his second set when weather forced the match indoors, and once play resumed, he quickly posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over the Red Raiders' top competitor Isaac Arevalo. That was Stice's 100th career win at Auburn.
The remaining matches were close, but Jan Galka on court two was the first to finish out his opponent, with a 7-6 (6), 6-0 victory over Reed Collier to clinch the victory for the Tigers.
Auburn will meet No. 8 Wake Forest (32-6) Saturday at 3 p.m. CT for the chance to advance to the Super Regionals against the winner of the Kentucky regional. Wake Forest defeated Radford 4-0 in its Friday match.
The Tigers are now 21-10 for the spring season; this is Auburn's first 20-win season since 2002. After reaching the SEC tournament semifinals, the Tigers are ranked No. 24 in the latest ITA team ratings and No. 22 in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25. No. 41 Texas Tech ends the season at 14-12.
#24 Auburn 4, #41 Texas Tech 1
Singles
#18 Tyler Stice (AU) def. #68 Isaac Arevalo (TT) 6-2, 6-2
Jan Galka (AU) def. Reed Collier (TT) 7-6 (8-6), 6-0
#118 Tad Maclean (AU) v Olle Wallin (TT) 7-5, 4-6 unfinished
Dimi Azoides (TT) def. Raul Dobai (AU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
Finn Murgett (AU) v Franco Ribero (TT) 6-1, 6-6 (4-0) unfinished
Will Nolan (AU) def. Piotr Pawlak (TT) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
#6 Murgett/Maclean (AU) def. #86 Arevalo/Pawlak (TT) 6-3
Collier/Azoides (TT) def. Galka/Stice (AU) 6-2
Dobai/Jackson Ross (AU) v Fran Vittar/Wallin (TT) 7-6 (7-5)
Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1,3; Singles: 6,1,4,2