March 4, 2007
Nashville, Tenn. - The #37 Auburn men's tennis team was unable to duplicate its strong performance from Friday today as the Tigers were edged out by #40 Vanderbilt, 5-2, in Nashville. Auburn moved to 7-2 (1-1 SEC), while Vanderbilt improved to 7-5 (1-1 SEC).
Vanderbilt jumped out to an early lead after taking the doubles point with victories on court one and two. Tigers Terence Nugent and Pawel Dilaj were victorious at No. 3 doubles, 8-7, over Commodores' Nathan Sachs and Vijay Paul. AU's Robbert Lathouwers and Lukas Marsoun fell to Ryan Preston and Evan Dufaux, 8-4, on court one. Vandy's Jordan Magarik and Andy Mack battled it out with Alexey Tsyrenov and Milan Krnjetin on court two. Magarik/Mack were the eventual winners, 8-6.
The Tigers quickly tied the score a 1-1 as Dilaj made quick work of Sachs at No. 5 singles, 6-1, 6-2. Dilaj moved to 9-0 on the season in singles play. Vanderbilt responded with three straight victories to secure the team win. The victory was sealed at No. 2 singles as Commodore Nik Cromydas earned a three-set win over Tsyrenov, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Commodore Paul got the streak going at No. 4 singles with a straight set win over Krnjetin, 6-3, 6-4. Vanderbilt continued to roll, taking a 3-1 lead with a three-set win by Dufaux over Marsoun. Marsoun captured the first set, but Dufaux responded with straight set victories to win, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Auburn would not see another win until Lathouwers put away his second straight ranked opponent, this time #70 Preston, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Lathouwers joined Dilaj as the only two Tigers who have won every singles match this season (9-0). The match concluded at No. 6 singles as Mack got back Nugent in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
For the second straight match, Auburn was without its top player, Alex Schweizer, who is ranked #42 in the nation. Schweizer is out with an injury.
The Tigers will be back in action this weekend when they return home to host #58 Mississippi State on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and #6 Ole Miss on Sunday at 1 p.m. All home matches all played on the Auburn Intramural Courts.
SINGLES:
1. Robbert Lathouwers (AU) def. #70 Ryan Pretson (VU), 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
2. Nick Cromydas (VU) def. Alexey Tsyrenov (AU), 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
3. Evan Dufaux (VU) def. Lukas Marsoun (AU), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
4. Vijay Paul (VU) def. Milan Krnjetin (AU), 6-3, 6-4
5. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Nathan Sachs (VU), 6-1, 6-2
6. Andy Mack (VU) def. Terence Nugent (AU), 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 6
DOUBLES
1. Ryan Preston/Evan Dufaux (VU) def. Robbert Lathouwers/Lukas Marsoun (AU), 8-4
2. Jordan Magarik/Andy Mack (VU) def. Alexey Tsyrenov/Milan Krnjetin (AU), 8-6
3. Terence Nugent/Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Nathan Sachs/Vijay Paul (VU), 8-7
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3