No. 21 Men’s tennis drops tight match to LSU in SEC Championship

No. 21 Men’s tennis drops tight match to LSU in SEC ChampionshipNo. 21 Men’s tennis drops tight match to LSU in SEC Championship
LSU Athletics

BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 21 Auburn fell by a 4-3 score to LSU in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Championship on Friday evening at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Tigers won the doubles point and led the match 3-2 before LSU, the host school of this season's championship, claimed two matches in three sets to claim the close victory.
 
Auburn started the match strong in doubles. Playing in the doubles No. 2 position, Will Nolan and Tyler Stice jumped out to a 3-1 lead and held off Ben Koch and Stefan Latinovic to win 6-3. Just moments later, Billy Blaydes and Nicholas Heng, who also built an early advantage at 4-1, earned their third straight victory together to claim the doubles point.
 

 
Auburn then won three opening sets over LSU to begin singles. An early break gave Finn Murgett a 5-3 advantage over Alessio Vasquez on court two. Vasquez tied the match at five before Murgett won the next two games to win the first set. Alejandro Moreno and Billy Blaydes each claimed 6-4 opening set victories for the Tigers.
 
After LSU tied the match with a straight set win on court six, Blaydes pulled away from Rudy Ceccon in his second set to win his match 6-4, 6-3 on court three. The win marked Blaydes' 21st dual match singles victory of the season and gave Auburn a 2-1 lead.
 

 
Vasquez led Murgett 3-1 in the second set before the Auburn senior came back to tie the set at four and later win the match 7-5, 6-4. That win was Murgett's third straight and improved his dual singles record to 18-3 this spring.
 
LSU's Julien Penzlin came back from losing his first set to Moreno to win the next two sets and cut the deficit to 3-2. Both remaining matches, court one and court five, required a third set.
 
After dropping his first set to Latinovic, Tyler Stice won his second set in a tiebreaker to force a third set, while Nicholas Heng also forced a third set by winning a tiebreaker over Chen Dong.
 
Stice was down 3-1 early in the third set to Latinovic and ultimately lost 2-6, 7-6 (3),2-6 which tied the match at three. Heng also began the set with a 2-1 deficit and never recovered, dropping the match in three sets. Dong's 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4 win over Heng clinched the 4-3 victory for LSU and advanced the team to the semifinal round.
 
The loss ends Auburn's run at the SEC Championship and moves its overall record to 17-10. . The Tigers will find out their Opening rounds site and seeding during a selection show on April 29 that will be streamed at 5 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. The first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament are scheduled to be played during the first weekend in May.
 
 
#44 LSU 4, #21 Auburn 3
 
Singles Results:
1. Stefan Latinovic (LSU) def. #29 Tyler Stice (AUB) 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2
2. #60 Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Alessio Vasquez (LSU) 7-5, 6-4
3. Billy Blaydes (AUB) def. Rudy Ceccon (LSU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Julien Penzlin (LSU) def. Alejandro Moreno (AUB) 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
5. Chen Dong (LSU) def. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4
6. Welsh Hotard (LSU) def. Raul Dobai (AUB) 6-0, 6-2
 
Doubles Results:
1. #59 Chen Dong/Julien Penzlin (LSU) vs. #21 Raul Dobai/Finn Murgett (AUB) 5-3, unfinished
2. Will Nolan/Tyler Stice (AUB) def. Ben Koch/Stefan Latinovic (LSU) 6-3
3. Billy Blaydes/Nicholas Heng (AUB) def. Welsh Hotard/Aleksi Lofman (LSU) 6-3
 
Time of match: 3:35 Order of finish: Doubles: 2,3; Singles: 6,3,2,4,1,5