No. 14 Auburn Tennis Beats Clemson

[augolf1716 21,313]

Kudos to the mens tennis team, I'm usually posting golf info but thought I'd give kudos to that other sport...

The 14th-ranked Auburn men's tennis team finished off a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Blue-Gray National Classic on Sunday night, defeating No. 66 Clemson 4-1 at the Lagoon Tennis Center.

Auburn (10-2) picked up wins over three ranked opponents during the weekend tournament and matched Tennessee and Mississippi State for the best record in the round-robin event.

Clemson (3-6) got on the board first, winning the doubles point. Auburn's No. 3 team of Lucas Lopasso and Rafael Rondino dropped an 8-5 decision to Dominique Maden and Wes Moran. Andreas Mies and Lukas Ollert then fell on court two to Ayrton Wibowo and Cedric Willems, 8-6, to give Clemson a 1-0 lead. Alex Stamchev and Daniel Cochrane were leading their match at the No. 1 post when play was suspended.

Singles, however, was all Auburn. Stamchev knotted the team score at one apiece with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Gerardo Meza on court two, then Lopasso finished off Zachary Rigsby, 6-2, 6-1, shortly thereafter to give Auburn a 2-1 lead.

Ollert rebounded at the No. 4 position with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Wibowo to put Auburn up 3-1. Michael Wardell, making his first appearance in the Auburn lineup this spring, overcame a first-set defeat to clinch the match for the Tigers with an 0-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Willems. In addition, Mies and Cochrane were both one game away from straight-set victories when play was halted.

The Tigers will open Southeastern Conference play next weekend with two matches in the Magnolia State. Auburn travels to Oxford, Miss., on Friday to face Ole Miss at 2 p.m., then the Tigers will head south to Starkville to take on Mississippi State at 1 p.m. Sunday.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]