No. 39 Auburn posted a convincing 4-1 SEC men's tennis road win over No. 29 Vanderbilt Sunday at the Currey Tennis Center in Nashville.
"This team has an amazing way of bouncing back and having short-term memory," Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds said. "It's not easy going on the road in our conference; being able to push a top 10 team up against the wall on Friday at Kentucky and then getting a win at Vanderbilt on Sunday shows the resilience of our young team. And the team success continues to come from different players each match."
In doubles, Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett jumped out to a big lead on court one and held on for a 6-4 win over Vanderbilt's nationally ranked tandem of Siim Troost and Michael Ross. On court three, Raul Dobai and Josh Raab forced a tiebreaker and came through that with a 7-5 score to win 7-6, posting their first SEC win as a duo and clinching the doubles point for the Tigers.
Maclean struck first in singles, putting another point on the scoreboard for Auburn with his 6-2, 6-2 victory over Max Freeman on court four. Raul Dobai made it 3-0 Auburn with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Marcus Ferreira on court three, and Finn Murgett clinched the match with his three-set win on court six over Siim Troost by a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 score.
The remaining matches were abandoned.
Auburn is 14-4 for the spring season, 3-2 in SEC play and ranked No. 39 in the latest ITA team ratings. Vanderbilt is 11-5 overall and 1-4 in SEC play.
Friday, Auburn plays at No. 31 Ole Miss in a 3 p.m. match in Oxford.
#39 Auburn 4, #29 Vanderbilt 1
Singles
#39 George Harwell (VU) def. #83 Tyler Stice (AU) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
#124 Jan Galka (AU) v Joubert Klopper (VU) 6-1, 2-6, 5-2 unfinished
Raul Dobai (AU) def. Marcus Ferriera (VU) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
#110 Tad Maclean (AU) def. Max Freeman (VU) 6-2, 6-2
Will Nolan (AU) v Jeremie Casabon (VU) 6-7 (5), 3-5 unfinished
Finn Murgett (AU) def. Siim Troost (VU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Doubles
Maclean/Murgett (AU) v #76 Troost/Michael Ross (VU) 6-4
Galka/Stice (AU) v Ferriera/Klopper (VU) 6-5 unfinished
Dobai/Josh Raab (AU) v Sisam/Casabon (VU) 7-6 (5)
Time of match: 3:04; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3; Singles: 4,3,1,6