March 15, 2006
Auburn, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers defeated the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles Wednesday, March 15, in their fifth shut-out of the season.
"This was a tough match for us to play today after coming back from two tough SEC road matches," said head AU coach Eric Shore. "Mentally we were flat, but we were able to overcome that."
In doubles action, Robbert Lathouwers and Lukas Marsoun pulled ahead of Marc Lux and Andrew Poole early to defeat the pair 8-4. Clenching the doubles point for the Tigers was Pawel Dilaj and Milan Krnjetin playing in the No. 2 spot. The pair defeated Domagoj Anic and Reid Bourgeoise 8-2. Closing out doubles competition was Nick Lane and Terence Nugent. Although the pair allowed Tommy Maestri and Dylan Mezey a slight comeback after having a secure lead, the pair closed out the set 8-5.
In singles action, Krnjetin easily finished off Dylan Mezey 6-1, 6-1, in the three spot. Following, No. 124 Lathouwers defeated Lux 6-3, 6-2. Sophomore Dilaj clenched the match for the Tigers, defeating Bourgeois 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 4 spot.
Marsoun, in the five spot, played a close first set 7-5, but defeated Poole 6-3, in the second. Playing in the No. 2 singles spot, No. 119 Lane easily won his first set 6-3, but struggled in the second. He emerged victorious, however, defeating Anic 7-6 (4).
Closing out Wednesday's match was sophomore Terence Nugent in the No. 6 spot, who played a full three sets, including a tie-breaker. Nugent dominated Juan Garzon 6-0, in the first set, but gave up the second 4-6. In the third set, Nugent came from behind to defeat Garzon 7-6 (6), securing the shut-out for the Tigers.
"I was glad to see Terence win a strange match," Shore said. "It shows his potential."
The Tigers improve their record to 9-4, 2-2 SEC. The Tigers are 7-2 when facing non-conference opponents this season. Auburn gave Southern Mississippi their second loss to a Southeastern Conference team this season.
The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday, March 18, to face the UAB Blazers at 4 p.m., in Auburn.
"We are going to have to play better mentally and physically in order to beat UAB on Saturday," Shore said. "They are always a tough match."
#58 Auburn 7, Southern Mississippi 0
Doubles
1. Lathouwers/Marsoun (AU) def. Lux/Poole (USM) 8-4
2. Dilaj/Krnjetin (AU) def. Anic/Bourgeois (USM) 8-2
3. Lane/Nugent (AU) def. Maestri/Mezey (USM)8-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1.Robbert Lathouwers #124 (AU) def. Marc Lux (USM) 6-3, 6-2
2.Nick Lane #119 (AU) def. Domagoj Anic USM) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
3.Milan Krnjetin (AU) def. Dylan Mezey (USM) 6-1, 6-1
4.Pawel Dilaj (AU) Reid Bourgeois (USM) 6-2, 6-3
5.Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Andrew Poole (USM) 7-5, 6-3
6.Terence Nugent (AU) def. Juan Garzon (USM) 6-0, 4-6,7-6 (6)
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 4*, 5, 2, 6