AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn will make its Texas swing this week, facing No. 15 Texas A&M on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. CT and No. 4 Texas on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.. The Tigers will enter Thursday’s match winners of three straight matches.
“It’s been a short week with one practice in Auburn before hitting the road on Wednesday so making sure we’re well rested is first and foremost in my mind,” said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. “We have to make sure they’re well rested physically and mentally to be ready for a tough Thursday night in College Station.”
Auburn bounced back from dropping its first two conference matches of the season by defeating No. 32 Vanderbilt on Friday and No. 59 Georgia on Sunday to even its SEC record at 2-2. The team also defeated Tennessee State on Sunday evening and the three wins moved Auburn up 13 spots in the latest ITA National Team Rankings No. 32.
Auburn redshirt sophomore Nicholas Heng was instrumental in helping the Tigers earn the three victories. On Friday, Heng and doubles partner Thomas Kennedy picked up a crucial break late in the match that led to a 6-2 win that clinched the doubles point for Auburn. In singles, Heng won a tight first set then cruised through the second set to defeat Callum Markowitz 7-5, 6-0 to give Auburn a 3-1 advantage in the match.
On Sunday, Georgia’s Gabriele Vulpitta defeated Heng in the first set before Heng dominated the second set 6-1. With the final set tied at two, the Auburn redshirt sophomore earned two breaks and held to 15 in the final game to win the match 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and clinch the team win for the Tigers.
Texas A&M will enter Thursday’s matchup with an 8-5 overall record and a 2-1 record in the SEC. The Aggies posted wins over LSU and Oklahoma and were defeated by Arkansas. Aggie freshman Theo Papamalamis has had a great spring since beginning his college career in January.
Papamalamis holds a 5-4 singles record at the No. 1 singles position as well as a 4-1 record at the top doubles position with partner Togan Tokac. Papamalamis is ranked No. 38 in singles while he and Tokac are ranked No. 52 in doubles.
“Courts in College Station are quick and the fans are tough,” Reynolds said about Thursday’s match. “Their team is very talented, but they also just came off a loss against Arkansas so very vulnerable too. I’m going to continue to preach the importance of competing without giving free errors. Keeping depth on ball, waiting for short balls, being aggressive and not outplaying ourselves. That will allow us to compete from start to finish.”
In its first season in the league, Texas is the only team that still holds an undefeated SEC record at 3-0. The Longhorns are 12-2 overall this season and a perfect 9-0 at home. Texas impressed early in the season by taking down defending national champion and then-No. 1 TCU before picking up wins over No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 5 Virginia at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Texas has five players featured in the latest ITA National Singles Rankings including No. 7 Timo Legout and No. 13 Sebastian Gorzny. Legout has had a great season in singles for the Longhorns, posting a 22-2 overall record and a 9-1 record in dual matches. He has recorded 14 wins over ranked opponents and reached the finals of the NCAA Singles Championship in November.
The Longhorns also have two ranked doubles pairings highlighted by No. 10 Legout and Lucas Brown.
Auburn will face Texas A&M under the lights at 6 p.m. CT at the Michell Tennis Center on Thursday in College Station before traveling to play Texas at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin. Live video and live scoring of Thursday’s match will be available online at 12thman.com while live video and live scoring of Sunday's match will be available online at TexasLonghorns.com.