KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 35 Auburn dropped a road match to ninth ranked Tennessee on Friday evening at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. Finn Murgett and Raul Dobai upset No. 4 Angel Diaz and Johannus Monday in doubles, while sophomore Billy Blaydes earned his team-leading 11th dual singles win in the team's 6-1 loss.
The Volunteers took the early momentum in doubles, taking an early 3-2 lead on court one and winning the first five games on court three. Tennessee won court three, but the Tigers began to climb back in the other two matches.
Murgett and Dobai came back to win on court one over Angel Diaz and Johannus Monday, the fourth ranked doubles team in the nation. The win marks the best ranked win that Murgett and Dobai have ever had as doubles partners. The 6-4 victory is also the Auburn duo's sixth dual match win of the season. On court two, Blaydes and Moreno commanded a 5-3 at one point in the match over 20th ranked Shunsuke Mitsui and Filip Pieczonka, but ultimately fell in a close match to give Tennessee the doubles point.
The Tigers struggled in singles, as Blaydes and Nicholas Heng were the only players to win opening sets on courts six and five, respectively.
Tennessee went on to claim straight set victories on courts three, four and one to clinch the team victory and make the score 4-0. Murgett began to bounce back in his second set after dropping the first four games to No. 23 Mitsui, but ultimately lost 6-4, 6-3.
No. 94 Filip Pieczonka forced his match to a 10-point tiebreaker third set with Heng and prevailed to give Tennessee a 6-0 lead. After splitting the first two sets, Blaydes took a 5-3 lead in the decisive third set against Filip Apltauer. Apltauer forced the third set into a tiebreaker, but Blaydes claimed the tiebreaker 7-5 and the match to make the final score 6-1.
Up next, Auburn will travel east to play No. 48 Georgia in Athens on Sunday at noon CT. Live video and live scoring of the rivalry match will be available online at georgiadogs.com.
#9 Tennessee 6, #35 Auburn 1
Singles Results:
1. #6 Johannus Monday (TENN) def. #40 Tyler Stice (AUB) 6-2, 6-2
2. #23 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. #73 Finn Murgett (AUB) 6-4, 6-3
3. Chris Li (TENN) def. Raul Dobai (AUB) 6-0, 6-2
4. Angel Diaz (TENN) def. Alejandro Moreno (AUB) 6-1, 6-3
5. #94 Filip Pieczonka (TENN) def. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 4-6, 6-3, 10-5
6. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Filip Apltauer (TENN) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)
Doubles Results:
1. Raul Dobai/Finn Murgett (AUB) def. #4 Angel Diaz/Johannus Monday (TENN) 6-4
2. #20 Shunsuke Mitsui/Filip Pieczonka (TENN) def. Billy Blaydes/Alejandro Moreno (AUB) 7-5
3. Filip Apltauer/Younes Lalami (TENN) def. Will Nolan/Tyler Stice (AUB) 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles 3,1,2; Singles: 3,4,1,2,5,6
