Men’s tennis drops match to No. 19 Tennessee, defeats Alabama A&M in doubleheader

Tennessee Match Box Score Alabama A&M Match Box Score
Men’s tennis drops match to No. 19 Tennessee, defeats Alabama A&M in doubleheaderMen’s tennis drops match to No. 19 Tennessee, defeats Alabama A&M in doubleheader
Abby Holbrook/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn suffered its first home loss of the season on Saturday to No. 19 Tennessee 4-3 before bouncing back to defeat Alabama A&M 4-1 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama. With the match tied at three against the Volunteers, the match was decided on the top singles courts where Tennessee prevailed in a lengthy match that lasted three sets.

“That was a tough one to lose in the morning,” Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said after the doubleheader. “We fought to the end and came up a little bit short. We've had our fair share of 4-3 wins, so it was tough to get behind early in the third set with Will (Nolan) and try to claw back, but just gave a little too much early on. We need to look at doubles and just be better. Just X's and O's, positioning, wanting the balls at the net and when we get the ball at the net being able to finish. That’s what we struggled with in the last two weeks, so it'll be an area of focus going forward.”

Tennessee started the match strong in the doubles point, claiming wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions to clinch the doubles point and take an early 1-0 lead.

For the second match in a row, Auburn junior Billy Blaydes helped turn the momentum by posting the first singles win for the Tigers. Blaydes claimed an early break in the first set to take a 3-1 lead over Jose Garcia before going on to win the set 6-2 with a break in the final game. The Auburn junior then won each of the first five games of the second set which led to a 6-2, 6-1 domination of Garcia. The win tied the team score at one.

Nicholas Heng then won in straight sets on court six over Ian Cruz by a 6-3, 6-1 score to give Auburn a 2-1 advantage in the match. Heng fell behind 2-0 in the opening set before coming back to win and took that momentum into the second, where he finished the match with five consecutive games won.

The Volunteers then responded with a straight set win on court four as well as a straight set win at the No. 2 singles position that was won in a second set tiebreaker. The two wins gave Tennessee a 3-2 lead with two singles matches remaining.

Auburn’s Hamza Nasridinov and Tennessee’s Alan Jesudason traded sets to start their match at the No. 5 singles position, as Nasridinov won the first 6-4 before Jesudason won the second 6-3. With the third set tied at two, the Auburn freshman held to love before earning a break to take a 4-2 lead and the momentum in the match. He went on to win the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to tie the team score and set up a winner-take-all on the top singles court.

No. 24 Shunsuke Mitsui of Tennessee and Will Nolan of Auburn stayed close all throughout the first two sets, with Mitsui winning the first 7-5 before Nolan won a crucial break on a deciding point in the final game of the second set to win 7-5 and force a third. Mitsui took the early advantage in the third set with two consecutive breaks to take a 3-0 lead. Nolan battled back late in the set but fell by a 5-7, 7-5, 4-6 score.

In the second match of the day, Alabama A&M started with the advantage by winning the doubles point with victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Auburn responded in singles by winning the opening set on all six courts over the Bulldogs.

Heng had no problems against Goran Krivokapic, not allowing a game in his 6-0, 6-0 win that tied the score at one. Joey Phillips and Hamza Nasridinov later posted straight set wins of their own to give Auburn a 3-1 lead.

At the No. 2 singles position, Billy Blaydes recorded his third straight set win of the weekend as he took down Yin Chih Lan 6-2, 6-1 to clinch the win for the Tigers.

The doubleheader split results in a 15-7 overall record for Auburn, while the loss to Tennessee dropped its SEC record to 5-5.

Auburn will return home for its final home match of the regular season on Saturday, March 29 against Arkansas at 1 p.m. After the match, the team will hold a ceremony to honor Will Nolan for senior day. Admission to the match will be free while live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.

 

#19 Tennessee 4, #27 Auburn 3

Singles Results:

  1. #24 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. Will Nolan (AUB) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
  2. #35 Alex Kotzen (TENN) def. #60 Alex Frusina (AUB) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
  3. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Jose Garcia (TENN) 6-2, 6-1
  4. Alejandro Moreno (TENN) def. Joey Phillips (AUB) 6-4, 6-4
  5. Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Alan Jesudason (TENN) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
  6. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Ian Cruz (TENN) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles Results:

  1. #10 Billy Blaydes/Will Nolan (AUB) vs. #13 Alex Kotzen/Alejandro Moreno (TENN) 4-4, unfinished
  2. Alan Jesudason/Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. Alex Frusina/Joey Phillips (AUB) 6-3
  3. James Newton/Jose Garcia (TENN) def. Nicholas Heng/Thomas Kennedy (AUB) 6-2

 

Time of match: 3:33; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2,1; Singles: 3,6,4,2,5,1; Official: Donna Jerome

 

 

#27 Auburn 4, Alabama A&M 1

Singles Results:

  1. #60 Alex Frusina (AUB) vs. Kai Cowcher (AAMUM) 6-4, 2-0, unfinished
  2. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Yin Chih Lan (AAMUM) 6-2, 6-1
  3. Joey Phillips (AUB) def. Arnay Pathange (AAMUM) 6-0, 6-2
  4. Hamza Nasridinov (AUB) def. Tasso Moreira (AAMUM) 6-2, 6-1
  5. Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Goran Krivokapic (AAMUM) 6-0, 6-0
  6. Thomas Kennedy (AUB) vs. Freddie Lawrence (AAMUM) 6-0, 2-5, unfinished

Doubles Results:

  1. Tasso Moreira/Kai Cowcher (AAMUM) def. Alex Frusina/Joey Phillips (AUB) 7-5
  2. Billy Blaydes/Jake Kennedy (AUB) def. Goran Krivokapic/Arnay Pathange (AAMUM) 6-0
  3. Yin Chih Lan/Agustin Marquez (AAMUM) def. Hamza Nasridinov/Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-4

 

Time of match: 1:53; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,3,1; Singles: 5,3,4,2; Official: Donna Jerome