KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The 18th-ranked Auburn men's tennis team fell on the road Sunday afternoon, dropping its final regular-season match to No. 10 Tennessee, 4-0, at UT's Barksdale Stadium.
The Tigers finished the regular season with a 13-9 overall record and a 5-7 mark in SEC play, tied with LSU for fourth in the Western Division. Tennessee improved to 21-7 (8-4 SEC) and clinched second place in the Eastern Division and overall in the SEC.
Auburn will be the 10th seed in next week's SEC Tournament, which runs Wednesday-Saturday in Oxford, Miss. The Tigers will open tournament play against seventh-seeded Vanderbilt in a second-round match at noon Thursday at the Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center.
Auburn fell behind early after dropping the doubles point with losses on courts two and three. UT's 60th-ranked team of John Collins and Edward Jones earned an 8-4 win over 48th-ranked Lucas Lopasso and Dennis Lengsfeld, and the Vols' Jarryd Chaplin and Taylor Patrick downed Auburn's Lukas Ollert and Joseph Van Dooren, 8-3.
In singles, the bottom of the lineup propelled Tennessee to the win. Patrick made it 2-0 Vols with a 6-4, 7-5 win at the No. 6 position over Van Dooren, and the top of the order made it 3-0 as fourth-ranked Mikelis Libietis defeated 28th-ranked Andreas Mies, 6-4, 7-6 (0) at the No. 1 singles line. Tennessee clinched the win on court five as Edward Jones defeated Lopasso, 7-5, 6-4.
The other three matches were unfinished. Ollert had won the first set over Collins, and Lengsfeld and Cochrane had both dropped first-set tiebreakers and were on serve in the second when play was halted.
Auburn Men's Tennis Results
April 14, 2013
Knoxville, Tenn. - Barksdale Stadium
#10 Tennessee 4, #18 Auburn 0
Singles
1. #4 Mikelis Libietis (UT) def. #28 Andreas Mies (AU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-0)
2. #30 Hunter Reese (UT) vs. #115 Daniel Cochrane (AU) 7-6 (7-4), 3-2, unfinished
3. Jarryd Chaplin (UT) vs. Dennis Lengsfeld (AU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-5, unfinished
4. John Collins (UT) vs. #122 Lukas Ollert (AU) 5-7, 5-3, unfinished
5. Edward Jones (UT) def. Lucas Lopasso (AU) 7-5, 6-4
6. Taylor Patrick (UT) def. Joseph Van Dooren (AU) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles
1. #6 Hunter Reese/Mikelis Libietis (UT) vs. #3 Daniel Cochrane/Andreas Mies (AU) 7-5, unfinished
2. #60 John Collins/Edward Jones (UT) def. #48 Lucas Lopasso/Dennis Lengsfeld (AU) 8-4
3. Jarryd Chaplin/Taylor Patrick (UT) def. Lukas Ollert/Joseph Van Dooren (AU) 8-3
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,1,5)
