Monday, 02/25/2013

 AUBURN - The 21st- ranked Auburn men's tennis team closed out non-conference play on a high note Sunday afternoon with a 6-1 win over No. 66 Georgia Tech at the City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center.

The Tigers (8-2) earned their second-straight win over the Yellow Jackets (4-5) and bounced back from a tough loss to Clemson on Friday.

"We came back and did what we had to do today," Auburn head coach Eric Shore said. "The nice thing for us is that we lost at the No. 1 doubles and were able to still win the doubles point. We feel like we're getting stronger down the line in doubles at two and three, and you have to have that. But we're not where we need to be, and we're running out of time. Conference starts Friday, and it's going to get tougher. We have to be mentally tougher from top to bottom in the lineup, and we've got a week to get ready. But we have a lot of work to do."

In a battle of two of the nation's top three doubles teams, Auburn's No. 1-ranked tandem of senior Andreas Mies and junior Daniel Cochrane lost for the first time this spring, dropping an 8-3 decision to the third-ranked Georgia Tech team of Vikram Hundal and Juan Spir.

But the No. 2 and No. 3 Auburn doubles teams came through to keep Auburn 10-for-10 on winning the doubles point this year. Dennis Lengsfeld and Lucas Lopasso rolled to an 8-2 win over Juan Melian and Nathan Rakitt, and Lukas Ollert and Joseph Van Dooren clinched the point by defeating Colin Edwards and Eduardo Segura, 8-5.

The Tigers got back on track in singles play as well. Ollert, ranked 120th in the ITA singles rankings, downed Hundal in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to give Auburn a 2-0 lead. And Lengsfeld made it a 2-for-2 weekend with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Rakitt at the No. 4 spot. Lopasso would then clinch the match for Auburn with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Segura at the fifth singles position. Van Dooren made it 5-0 Tigers with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Anish Sharma at the No. 6 singles position.

Georgia Tech got on the board as Melian defeated Cochrane at the No. 2 spot, 6-4, 7-5. And Mies, ranked 106th nationally in singles, fought for an upset win over No. 63 Spir at the top singles spot, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 1-0 (7).

Southeastern Conference play begins next weekend with a pair of home matches for the Tigers. Auburn will host No. 11 Mississippi State at 2 p.m. Friday and finish off a four-match homestand against No. 10 Ole Miss at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Auburn Men's Tennis Results
Feb. 24, 2013 at Auburn, AL
(Yarbrough Tennis Center)

#21 Auburn 6, #66 Georgia Tech 1

Singles
1. #106 Andreas Mies (AU) def. #63 Juan Spir (GT) 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)
2. Juan Melian (GT) def. Daniel Cochrane (AU) 6-4, 7-5
3. #120 Lukas Ollert (AU) def. Vikram Hundal (GT) 6-3, 6-3
4. Dennis Lengsfeld (AU) def. Nathan Rakitt (GT) 6-3, 6-3
5. Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. Eduardo Segura (GT) 6-2, 6-3
6. Joseph Van Dooren (AU) def. Anish Sharma (GT) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
1. #3 Vikram Hundal/Juan Spir (GT) def. #1 Daniel Cochrane/Andreas Mies (AU) 8-3
2. Dennis Lengsfeld/Lucas Lopasso (AU) def. Juan Melian/Nathan Rakitt (GT) 8-2
3. Lukas Ollert/Joseph Van Dooren (AU) def. Colin Edwards/Eduardo Segura (GT) 8-5

Match Notes:
Georgia Tech 4-5; National ranking #66
Auburn 8-2; National ranking #21
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,4,5,6,2,1)