WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.- After starting the season with three match wins at home, No. 23 Auburn will put its undefeated record on the line away from the Plains at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Tigers will face host school No. 10 Wake Forest on Friday at 5:00 p.m. CT while Saturday's opponent is still to be determined. The Tigers have faceed the the Demon Deacons recently, as they fell during the NCAA opening rounds last season 4-1.
"Wake Forest is a great team at home; I can't tell you the last time they lost at home indoors, so they have a sense of comfort when they play indoors," said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. "They did a great job last year when we played them indoors [in the NCAA tournament] of serving big and getting in control of points. They're not looking to play long rallies or grind the points, so we have to be ready for that. We have to make sure that when the court's a little bit quicker and especially indoors, we've got to take that first strike to gain control of the point. From there, you will most likely be successful if you can gain control of the point faster than your opponent."
Auburn moved up two spots from 25th to 23rd in the latest ITA team rankings that were released on Wednesday while their Friday opponent, Wake Forest, made a jump to 10th from 14th. The other two schools at the site are No. 19 Duke and Middle Tennessee. Both matches will be played indoors.
The Tigers look to continue their momentum after starting with three straight wins with the last two being 7-0 shutouts. Freshman Billy Blaydes, in just his first month on campus, went a perfect 2-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles through Auburn's first three dual matches of the season while senior Jan Galka went 2-0 in both singles and doubles play in Auburn's first three matches.
Auburn had a lot of success in doubles on Thursday against Samford, as Galka and Blaydes won their match on court two 6-2, Tyler Stice and Alejandro Moreno won their match on court three 6-1, and Finn Murgett and Raul Dobai's match on court one was unfinished. Coach Reynolds says that he anticipates keeping those same doubles teams in tact this weekend.
"We're going to play that same doubles lineup this week – same pairings, same courts," said the seventh-year Auburn head coach. Raul and Finn had a great fall and played really well together at the Vanderbilt tournament. Their success is really about continuing to hit the spots with their serves and allowing their partner to be aggressive at the net. If we're not hitting spots with our serves and the ball's coming back cross court, that's challenging.
"That's what we've been stressing to them. Raul is a big guy who can really blast the ball and we know how successful Finn has been in doubles in the past, so it's about building their relationship and figuring out how they gel and what patterns work well for them."
If Auburn is able to win both of their matches this weekend, the Tigers will earn a trip to the ITA Men's National Team Indoor Championship in Chicago, Illinois on February 17-20.
Live stats from the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center will be available here for both matches and the matches will be live steamed here.