AUBURN, Ala. – No. 35 Auburn will be on the road in conference play for the second straight weekend against No. 9 Tennessee and Georgia. The Tigers will battle the Volunteers on Friday at 4 p.m. CT and the Bulldogs on Sunday at noon CT. Auburn will enter the second weekend of SEC matches with a three-match winning streak and an SEC opening win over Ole Miss in the books.
"It will be a tough road trip," said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. "We had success against Tennessee last year, but they are a great team. They are really good at No. 1 and No. 2. They also have a couple of young freshman lower in the lineup, so that will be a battle against guys that we haven't seen."
Tennessee will enter Friday's match with a 13-3 record that includes two wins over top-10 opponents earlier in the season. The Volunteers won both of their matches during the first weekend of SEC play over Georgia and Arkansas in Knoxville.
Senior Johannus Monday, the sixth ranked singles player in the nation, is typically at the top of Tennessee's singles lineup and has a 13-2 singles dual match record this season. Monday and Angel Diaz have a 9-1 overall doubles record together this season and are ranked fourth in the latest ITA doubles rankings that were released on Tuesday.
Last season, Auburn hosted then-No. 13 Tennessee and pulled out a dramatic 4-3 win after Finn Murgett defeated Emile Hudd in three sets to open SEC play.
"Playing Georgia in Athens is always a challenge," continued Reynolds. "Over the past three or four years, we have had absolute battles with them. We've gotten to team match points and lost some tough ones 4-3. I know that match is one on the schedule our guys want to get, especially for those seniors that haven't been able to get the UGA win. We'll be ready to play, and hopefully we'll get some outdoor matches. We play better on slower courts, when we can extend points and grind our opponents down."
Georgia, currently ranked below Auburn in the ITA team rankings at 48th, is in the midst of a five-match skid that includes road losses to Tennessee and Mississippi State during the opening weekend its conference schedule. The Bulldogs have three ranked singles players including No. 65 Ryan Colby, who holds a 14-10 overall singles record this season.
The last time that Auburn defeated Georgia was during the 2010 SEC Championship quarterfinal round, when the Tigers upset the third-seeded Bulldogs 4-3. Auburn was on the short end of a 4-3 score against Georgia in both 2021 and 2022.
Live video and live scoring of Auburn's Friday match against Tennessee at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville will be available online at utsports.com. Live video and live scoring of the Tigers' match on Sunday with Georgia will be available online at georgiadogs.com.