TUCSON, Ariz. – No. 24 Auburn pulled out a close victory over 41st ranked Pepperdine on Friday during the opening round of the NCAA Championship at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson, Arizona.
With the match tied at three, redshirt freshman Nicholas Heng pulled out a three-set thriller over Zach Stephens to propel the Tigers to the first round victory.
"It was a great hard-fought match," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said after the victory. "Credit to Pepperdine for pushing us to the very end. They are very well coached. Didn't come out and play the best of doubles, which put us behind early, but our guys really turned it around in singles by giving us four first set wins.
"It was great for our guys to get this win and pull from behind after being put up against a barrier. We'll be excited for tomorrow and hopefully be able to play some free tennis."
Pepperdine began the match hot by jumping ahead on both courts two and three in doubles. The Waves ultimately won on both courts to secure the doubles point and a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers fought back in singles by claiming first set victories on four courts. Billy Blaydes claimed four consecutive games to close his opening set win over Linus Halldin while Finn Murgett and Heng both posted convincing first set wins on courts two and five, respectively.
After being down 5-4 late in the opening set, Tyler Stice battled back to force a tiebreaker against No. 51 Edward Winter. Stice went on to win the tiebreaker 7-2 on the top singles court.
First set wins on 4️⃣ courts for the Tigers, including a win in a tiebreaker for Tyler Stice 🔥#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/BIHUDJYhNr
— Auburn Men's Tennis (@AuburnMTennis) May 3, 2024
Halldin fought back in the second set against Blaydes by coming back to take a 4-3 lead, but the Auburn sophomore then won each of the next three games to win the match 6-2, 6-4 and tie the match for the Tigers. The win marks Blaydes' sixth consecutive singles victory as well as his 22nd singles dual match win of the season.
Just moments later, Murgett picked up a straight set victory of his own over Pietro Fellin by a dominant 6-4, 6-1 score. The 2024 first team All-SEC selection has now won four straight singles matches and improved to a perfect 6-0 record in the No. 2 singles position.
After dropping their respective first sets, Raul Dobai and Will Nolan each won in a second set to extend the matches on courts four and six. Nolan battled back from trailing 3-1 to win the set over George Davis 6-4. Dobai later lost his match in three sets to Maxi Homberg.
After a close opening set, Stice ran away with his second set and claimed a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win to give Auburn a 3-2 lead. With two matches remaining, both in a third set, Auburn needed to win one of the two for a team victory.
Nolan then lost his match to set the stage for Heng with a tied team score.
Heng jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the third set. Stephens inched back by winning a couple of games late in the set, but the redshirt freshman ultimately prevailed by a 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-3 win to punch the Tigers' ticket to the second round of the NCAA Championship.
Auburn will face host school Arizona at 3 p.m. CT in the second round match on Saturday. If Auburn defeats the ninth-ranked Wildcats, the team will advance to the NCAA Super Regional round.
Live video and live scoring of Saturday's match will be available online at arizonawildcats.com.
#24 Auburn 4, #41 Pepperdine 3
Singles Results:
1. #31 Tyler Stice (AUB) def. #51 Edward Winter 7-6 (2), 6-2
2. #63 Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Pietro Fellin (PEPP) 6-4, 6-1
3. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Linus Halldin (PEPP) 6-2, 6-4
4. Maxi Homberg (PEPP) def. Raul Dobai (AUB) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
5. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Zach Stephens (PEPP) 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-3
6. George Davis (PEPP) def. Will Nolan (AUB) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles Results:
1. #21 Raul Dobai/Finn Murgett (AUB) vs. Linus Halldin/George Davis (PEPP) 4-5, unfinished
2. Maxi Homberg/Christopher Papa (PEPP) def. Will Nolan/Tyler Stice (AUB) 6-1
3. Pietro Fellin/Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Billy Blaydes/Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles: 2,3; Singles: 3,2,4,1,6,5