AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn claimed two home shutout wins on Sunday against Middle Tennessee State and The Citadel at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Tigers defeated MTSU 4-0 in the first match of the day, then took down The Citadel 7-0 in the nightcap.
Auburn's long day on the tennis courts began with a hot start during the doubles point against MTSU with fresh doubles teams on courts two and three. Alejandro Moreno and Billy Blaydes, in their first dual match paired together this season, jumped out to a 2-1 lead on court two and won the next four consecutive games to defeat Shu Matsuoka and Karim Al-Amin 6-1.
A few moments later, Finn Murgett and Raul Dobai claimed their second dual match victory of the season by a 6-2 score to claim the doubles point for the Tigers.
"We needed to make some changes with some of our doubles pairings and I think they came out strong in the first 15 minutes, and that is the key to the doubles point," said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. "I couldn't have asked for a better start from them. I think that carried over into the singles. When you're on the winning side of that and you come out hot, good things happen in the singles."
Singles began with first set wins for Auburn from Murgett, Moreno and Blaydes. Both Moreno and Blaydes came back to claim the first set from trailing 4-1 at one point in their respective matches.
Murgett maintained his perfect singles record this season by quickly finishing his match against Ondrej Horak on court three by a 6-3, 6-2 score. Just a few minutes later, Blaydes also earned a straight-set victory on court five to give Auburn a 3-0 advantage.
"I think it was huge to get Finn off the court and give Billy a little bit more life late in that second set to get him off the court," continued Reynolds. "We had a lot of matches in the third set, but when you look at the scoreboard and see 3-0 as opposed to 2-0 or 2-1, it's just a different mindset for our guys."
The Blue Raiders extended the match by forcing a third set on court four, while Auburn's Tyler Stice, Raul Dobai and Will Nolan each forced a third set in their respective matches. While Dobai and Nolan began to trail in each of their third sets, Stice ran away with his third set and clinched the match with the Tigers with an upset victory over No. 18 Leo Raquin by a 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 score.
The doubles point in the second match against The Citadel did not come as easily for Auburn, as Murgett and Dobai earned their second singles victory of the day, but a loss on court three left the doubles point up to Blaydes and Moreno on court two. The Auburn duo came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Ted Bagwell and Teo Cariov and claim the doubles point.
In his first singles match of the day, Nicholas Heng dominated his match on court six 6-0, 6-0 to give Auburn a quick 2-0 advantage. Murgett then recorded his second singles victory of the day and extended his singles winning streak to six matches with another straight-set win on court two in a match that he never trailed.
On court four, Blaydes came back from trailing 3-1 early in his opening set against Noah Van Dyke to win the set, then ran away with a second set 6-2 to pick up his 12th singles win of the season. Blaydes' win clinched the team victory for the Tigers.
Moments later, Nolan and Moreno each won their respective matches in straight sets. Dobai dropped a close second set tiebreaker to Hayden Shoemake on court one, but bounced back by winning the match and securing the 7-0 shutout for Auburn.
"The reason we play the doubleheader is because next week when we go into Blue-Gray, we'll have a full match in the morning, doubles in the afternoon, followed by singles and a full match the next day," Reynolds continued. "So you have to be ready to go compete from the beginning. I don't think we did the best of that in the doubles against The Citadel, but we turned it around in the singles. Credit to The Citadel, they made us play a lot, and ultimately that is what we want. We want to keep working on things so that we get better as we go into conference play."
Auburn will return to Montgomery to defend its title at the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic, which will be held Feb. 23 and 24.
Auburn 4, Middle Tennessee 0
Singles Results:
1. #84 Tyler Stice (AUB) def. #18 Leo Raquin (MTSU) 5-7, 6-0, 6-2
2. #105 Raul Dobai (AUB) vs. #79 Marcel Kamrowski (MTSU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 0-4, unfinished
3. Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Ondrej Horak (MTSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Alejandro Moreno (AUB) vs. Demis Taramonlis (MTSU) 6-2, 2-6, 1-4, unfinished
5. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Shu Matsuoka (MTSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Will Nolan (AUB) vs. Karim Al-Amin (MTSU) 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 0-0, unfinished
Doubles Results:
1. Finn Murgett/Raul Dobai (AUB) def. Leo Raquin/Ondrej Horak (MTSU) 6-2
2. Alejandro Moreno/Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Shu Matsuoka/Karim Al-Amin (MTSU) 6-1
3. Tyler Stice/Will Nolan (AUB) vs. Javier Cueto Ramos/Jakub Kroslak (MTSU) 5-1, unfinished
Time of match: 2:48; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 3,5,1; Official: Donna Jerome
Auburn 7, The Citadel 0
Singles Results:
1. #105 Raul Dobai (AUB) def. Hayden Shoemake (CIT) 6-4, 6-7 (9-11), 1-0 (10-2)
2. Finn Murgett (AUB) def. S. Kamieniecki (CIT) 6-1, 6-2
3. Alejandro Moreno (AUB) def. Teo Cariov (CIT) 6-2, 6-4
4. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Noah Van Dyke (CIT) 6-4, 6-2
5. Will Nolan (AUB) def. Ted Bagwell (CIT) 6-3, 6-3
6. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Bradey Minnich (CIT) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles Results:
1. Raul Dobai/Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Hayden Shoemake/S. Kamieniecki (CIT) 6-1
2. Billy Blaydes/Alejandro Moreno (AUB) def. Ted Bagwell/Teo Cariov (CIT) 6-4
3. Lucas Robins/Noah Van Dyke (CIT) def. Tyler Stice/Will Nolan (AUB) 6-2
Time of match: 2:48; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2; Singles: 6,2,4,5,3,1; Official: Donna Jerome