March 16, 2012
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ORLANDO, Fla. - Auburn men's tennis coach Eric Shore earned his 300th career victory on Friday as the 18th-ranked Tigers earned a 7-0 sweep of UCF on Friday morning at the UCF Tennis Complex.
"I guess it means you've been around awhile," Shore said of winning his 300th match at Auburn. "I've been very fortunate to have some good players and some good assistants, and I have a good associate head coach now. It feels nice to get the win; I didn't think I'd see 300 when I got to 200. Every SEC win is tough; they are hard to come by. But I've been lucky to have good people around me."
The Tigers (13-4) earned their second road victory of the season as the Southeastern Conference took a break from league play this week. UCF fell to 5-9.
"They took care of business, they were ready today," Shore said. "It was a good effort. I think our number one (doubles) team is playing well, and our number three team continues to be solid. And I think our team of (Daniel) Cochrane and (Lukas) Ollert keeps getting better; even though they lost the tiebreaker, they were up 7-2 and let it get away from them. I'm not disappointed in the doubles, and we continue to play solid in singles."
The Tigers won the doubles point for the third straight match. Auburn's top team of Alex Stamchev and Andreas Mies, ranked 13th in the nation, improved to 8-1 overall on the year (4-0 in dual matches), breezing to an 8-1 win over Joe Delinks and Mitch Thams. Lucas Lopasso and Rafael Rondino earned their fourth straight win at the No. 3 doubles position to clinch the point for Auburn, defeating Mario Samson and Matthew Gladstone 8-3. Cochrane and Ollert could not hold onto a 7-2 lead and dropped their match at the No. 2 position to Juan Bolona and Erik Brunskog, 8-7.
In singles, Auburn earned five of its six wins in decisive fashion while fighting for a sixth. Mies, ranked 26th in the latest ITA singles release, defeated Jorge Blasco at No. 1, 7-5, 6-0, and newly-ranked Stamchev - 95th in the rankings - took care of Brunskog, 6-2, 6-2, at the No. 2 slot. Cochrane put together a dominating performance at No. 3 singles, earning a 6-1, 6-0 win over Thams.
Freshman Lukas Ollert, who moved up to No. 100 in this week's rankings, took down Samson in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, and Lopasso got back on the winning track at No. 5 singles with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Bolona. Michael Wardell improved to 4-1 in dual match play this season with a hard-fought, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) win over Gladstone at the No. 6 singles spot to secure the sweep for the Tigers.
Auburn will return to SEC play next week with a split weekend in conference play. The Tigers will travel to Lexington, Ky., to face the No. 7-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Friday before returning home to host Vanderbilt on Sunday.
Auburn Men's Tennis Results
March 16, 2012
UCF Tennis Complex - Orlando, Fla.
#18 Auburn 7, UCF 0
Singles
1. #26 Andreas Mies (AUB) def. Jorge Blasco (UCF) 7-5, 6-0
2. #95 Alex Stamchev (AUB) def. Erik Brunskog (UCF) 6-2, 6-2
3. Daniel Cochrane (AUB) def. Mitch Thams (UCF) 6-1, 6-0
4. #100 Lukas Ollert (AUB) def. Mario Samson (UCF) 6-3, 6-0
5. Lucas Lopasso (AUB) def. Juan Bolona (UCF) 6-4, 6-0
6. Michael Wardell (AUB) def. Matthew Gladstone (UCF) 6-3, 4-6, 10-8
Doubles
1. #13 Alex Stamchev/Andreas Mies (AUB) def. Joe Delinks/Mitch Thams (UCF) 8-1
2. Juan Bolona/Erik Brunskog (UCF) def. Lukas Ollert/Daniel Cochrane (AUB) 8-7
3. Lucas Lopasso/Rafael Rondino (AUB) def. Mario Samson/Matthew Gladstone (UCF) 8-3
Match Notes
Auburn 13-4; National ranking #18
UCF 5-9
300th win for AU head coach Eric Shore