AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn men's tennis is set to begin its 2023 spring season with a home doubleheader on Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Tigers will open the season against Michigan State at noon CT followed by Alabama State at 5:00 p.m. CT.
"As we become better as a program, we schedule tougher teams early in the year and that's what I wanted to do with Michigan State," head coach Bobby Reynolds said about opening against the Spartans. "We'll be playing indoors for both matches and this is a good chance to give our guys a wake-up call that we need to hit the ground running from the beginning."
The Tigers come into the match ranked No. 24 according to the ITA, which is the highest preseason ranking that Auburn has had since 2013 and the highest preseason ranking since head coach Bobby Reynolds took the helm in 2016. Individually, 2022 All-SEC first-teamer Tyler Stice and Will Nolan enter the spring season ranked in singles at No. 66 and tied for No. 110, respectively. 2022 Doubles All-American Finn Murgett will enter the season with a new doubles partner after Tad Maclean graduated following the 2022 campaign.
"The expectations are different this year, both from a coach's standpoint and from the players' standpoint," said Coach Reynolds. "Our goal last year was to make the tournament. That goal wasn't a hard goal for us because of where we were as a team, but a goal that these guys had never been a part of, so the emotional side of finally making the tournament was a big emotional gain for them."
Michigan State freshman Ozan Baris ended the fall season as the lone ranked Spartan, as he is ranked 26th in the nation in singles. Michigan State finished last season with a 15-14 record while Alabama State went 12-7 and won the SWAC conference championship.
Both matches will be held at the Yarbrough Tennis Center indoor courts at 1717 Richland Road in Auburn. Fans in attendance at either match will receive complementary donuts as well as an Auburn tennis keychain. Live scoring will be available for the match at AuburnTigers.com.
