AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn's top doubles team of senior Brandon Laubser and sophomore Tad Maclean have earned a spot in the NCAA doubles championships beginning Tuesday at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
Laubser and Maclean will face No. 22 Bertus Kruger and Reese Stalder of TCU in their first match Tuesday at 12:30 CT as part of the 32-team field. The winner of that match takes on the winner between Jimmy Bendeck and Sven Lah of Baylor (the tournament's top seed) and No. 18 Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel of UCF on Wednesday.
Laubser and Maclean were ranked No. 38 nationally in the last Oracle/ITA rankings before NCAA team play began. They were 15-12 as Auburn's number one doubles team this spring, facing eight nationally ranked opponents and posting SEC wins over teams from LSU, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas.
"This is a great opportunity for Tad and Brandon," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "They have had a lot of success this spring as a doubles team and have continually gotten better as the season progressed.
"To participate in the NCAAs is every college tennis player's goal, and I'm excited for their opportunity to represent Auburn."
All matches shall be the best-of-three sets. No-ad scoring and a 7-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) at six-games-all will be used for all matches. In doubles, a 10-point match tiebreaker will be played in lieu of a third set.
When the initial NCAA field was announced earlier in May, Laubser and Maclean were the fifth alternate to the doubles championships, but a number of adjustments to the field after NCAA team competition have given them a place in the final 32 doubles tandems competing for the national title. This will be the first NCAA appearance for both Auburn players.
Tennis Channel and the USTA live stream will provide video coverage throughout the championships. The finals will be played Saturday, May 25, in Orlando; doubles teams who advance to the quarterfinals earn All-America recognition.