AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn men's tennis will begin Southeastern Conference play against Ole Miss at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center on Friday at 3 p.m. CT.
"Ole Miss is pretty much the exact same team that we saw last year," said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. "We've watched a lot of video this week to figure out how Tyler [Stice] can get to [Nikola] Slavic at the No. 1 position. Tyler is playing some of the best tennis that I have seen him play over the five years that he has been here right now."
The Rebels control the all-time series at 35-31, but the Tigers have won each of the last three meetings, including a 4-0 win last season at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Oxford has proven to be a difficult place to play in recent years, as Ole Miss has claimed three of the last four matches at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center."
"It's a tough environment to play in at Oxford," continued Reynolds. "The fraternity guys will be out on a Friday afternoon, and they bring a big presence. From that standpoint, we need to be ready for a dogfight."
Over the weekend at the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, senior Finn Murgett continued his dominant play in singles. Murgett earned three wins, all in straight sets, to increase his singles winning streak to nine to start the season. Murgett played on court three against Middle Tennessee and Michigan State, then moved up to court two against Alabama, when he did not allow No. 57 Enzo Aguiard to win a game in a 6-0, 6-0 win.
Ole Miss will enter Friday's match with a 5-4 record following a 7-0 shutout road win over New Orleans on Sunday. Nikola Slavic has started every dual match at the top of the Rebels' singles lineup card and holds a 7-1 dual singles record this season. Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt make up the No. 1 doubles team for Ole Miss, with a 17-5 overall record including a perfect 7-0 record in dual matches this season.
Friday's SEC opening match is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. CT. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at olemisssports.com.
