March 11, 2007
The Auburn men's tennis team suffered a devastating loss on Sunday when they were defeated, 6-1, by the No.8 Ole Miss Rebels at the Auburn Intramural Courts. The Tigers overall record now stands at 8-3, while they are tied, 2-2, in SEC play.
"You have to give Ole Miss credit. They played well. They played like a No.8 team in the country. They deserved the win today," said Auburn head coach Eric Shore. "We are going to have to work to get better. We've got some areas to work on, and hopefully we can improve to get ready for the Blue Gray Tournament next week."
Despite an impressive effort by the No. 37 Tigers, Ole Miss took the lead early in doubles play. On court No.2, senior Robbert Lathouwers and sophomore Alexey Tsyrenov started strong, but were defeated by the Rebel's Jakob Klaeson and Matthias Wellermann, 8-4. In match No.1, Auburn's senior Alex Schweizer and junior Terence Nugent fell to Eric Claesson and Erling Tveit, 8-4.
Ole Miss had secured the doubles point, but sophomore Lukas Marsoun and junior Pawel Dilaj renewed the Tiger's determination as they held out against the Rebel's Kalle Norberg and Jonas Berg, 8-6, in the No.3 spot.
The Tigers went into the singles matches with hopes of regaining the lead, however, the Rebels stood their ground. On the No.5 court, Jakob Klaeson took Auburn's Lukas Marsoun, 6-4, 6-3.
Auburn's Robbert Lathouwers battled it out with Matthias Wellermann in the No.2 spot, where Lathouwers captured the Tiger's only win of the day, 6-4, 6-4.
On court No. 3, Alexey Tsyrenov was swept by the Rebel's No.54 ranked Robbye Poole, 6-2, 6-2. It wasn't long before Ole Miss locked in the win, as Auburn's sophomore Milan Krnjetin was beat in the No.6 match by Kalle Norberg, 6-0, 6-3. Defeat then found its way to court No.1, where Alex Schweizer held his own against the Rebel's No. 16 Erling Tveit, but was eventually conquered, 7-6, 6-4. In the No. 4 spot, the Tiger's Pawel Dilaj showed remarkable endurance until slowly falling to Jonas Berg, 7-6, 1-6, 9-11.
The Tigers will be in Montgomery, Ala., next weekend to participate in the Blue Gray Tournament. Following the tournament, Auburn will be back on the road to continue SEC play against the Georgia Bulldogs on March 23 at 2:00 p.m. CT.
Singles
1. #16 Erling Tveit (OM) def. #117 Alex Schweizer (AU) 7-6 (10-6), 6-4
2. #73 Robbert Lathouwers (AU) def. #81 Matthias Wellermann (OM) 6-4, 6-4
3. #54 Robbye Poole (OM) def. Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) 6-2, 6-2
4. #33 Jonas Berg (OM) def. Pawel Dilaj (AU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 11-9
5. Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Lukas Marsoun (AU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Kalle Norberg (OM) def. Milan Krnjetin (AU) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles
1. #20 Erling Tveit/Eric Claesson (OM) def. #57 Alex Schweizer/Terence Nugent (AU) 8-4
2. Matthias Wellermann/Jakob Klaeson (OM) def. Robbert Lathouwers/Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) 8-4
3. Pawel Dilaj/Lukas Marsoun (AU) def. Jonas Berg/Kalle Norberg (OM) 8-6