April 12, 2006
Auburn, Ala. - The No. 44 Auburn men's tennis team took its second 4-3 upset this week over No. 39 Tulsa. Clinching the match for the Tigers was Pawel Dilaj in the singles five spot.
"Some might call this an upset, but we have never considered our ranking indicative of our ability," said AU head coach Eric Shore. "I have to give credit to Nick Lane for stepping up on senior night in a close doubles match and then in singles. His win at No. 2 singles really got us going."
In doubles action, Robbert Lathouwers and Lukas Marsoun finished up first with an 8-4 victory in the one spot. Pawel Dilaj and Milan Krnjetin followed with a loss, 8-4, in the three spot.
The doubles point would come down to court two, with Lane and Terence Nugent defending AU. With the score 7-7, the match would go into a tie breaker, where the Tigers would prevail 9-7 over Ross Cunningham and Andy Connelly.
In singles, Tulsa would take the first victory on court six where Nugent fell 6-3, 6-1 to Diego Camacho. Finishing up next, Lathouwers fell 6-4, 6-4 to Tulsa's No. 10 Arnau Brugues on court one.
In the two spot, Nick Lane easily won his first set 6-1, but fell behind in the second. Lane came back from a three-point deficit to defeat No. 112 Frederico Soriano 6-3 in the second set. Lane claims his fourth victory in a row over a ranked opponent and improves his record to 16-5.
With the scored tied at two, Tulsa would take the next victory in the four-spot where Marsoun fell 6-4, 6-1 to No. 102 Ricardo Soriano. However, Krnjetin would even the score again for Auburn, winning straight sets 8-6, 6-4 over Charpantidis in the three spot.
With the score 3-3, Dilaj battled into a third set with Gray on court five. The pair stayed neck and neck through out the entire set, but ultimately Dilaj would prevail 6-4 in the third set.
"I want my picture on the Web after that," Dilaj said of his victory.
"I have to give credit to Milan and Pawel," Shore said, "after struggling last week they stepped it up and got it done."
The Tigers will be back in action Saturday, April 15, against Central Alabama Community College at 9 a.m., in Alexander City, followed by the Crimson Tide of Alabama at 5 p.m., in Tuscaloosa.
#44 Auburn 4 #39 Tulsa 3
Doubles
1. Lathouwers/Marsoun (AU) def. Gray/R. Soriano (TULSA) 8-4
2. Lane/Nugent (AU) Cunningham/Connelly (TULSA) 9-7
3. Charpantidis/Maasdorp (TULSA) def. Dilaj/Krnjetin (AU) 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. No. 10Arnau Brugues (TULSA) def. Robbert Lathouwers (AU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Nick Lane (AU) def. No. 112 Frederico Soriano (TULSA) 6-1, 6-3
3. Milan Krnjetin (AU) def. Aleksander Charpantidis (TULSA) 8-6, 6-4
4. No. 102 Ricardo Soriano def. Lukas Marsoun (AU) 6-4, 6-0
5. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Will Gray (TULSA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
6. Diego Camacho (TULSA) def. Terence Nugnet (AU) 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 1, 2, 4, 3, 5*