Alabama
Auburn
No. 15 Men's Tennis Takes Down No. 18 Auburn
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 18, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. - Senior Michael Jung delivered the match clincher at No. 6 singles to give 15th-ranked Alabama a 4-2 win over No. 18 Auburn on Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. With the win, the Crimson Tide improves to 19-6 overall and 7-4 against SEC opponents, while the Tigers drop to 12-9 on the season and 5-6 versus league foes. Alabama has now won six straight matches against Auburn.
"I couldn't be more proud of our team and its effort," said head coach Billy Pate. "It's a special win for the seniors as they never lost to Auburn in their career."
Alabama began the match in impressive fashion with wins on all three courts in doubles. The No. 2 pairing of senior Billy Mertz and junior Saketh Myneni, ranked 83rd nationally, took down Auburn senior Lukas Marsoun and freshman Alex Stamchev 8-5. Next off on court three was the freshmen duo of Ricky Doverspike and Michael Thompson. Thanks to breaks midway through the set, Doverspike and Thompson were able to hold off Tiger senior Milan Krnjetic and freshman Michel Monteiro 8-5 to award the doubles point to the Tide. Alabama earned a huge win at No. 1 doubles as the 33rd-ranked senior team of Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau took down Auburn's 10th-ranked pair of senior Alexey Tsyrenov and sophomore Tim Puetz 8-6. The win was Buikema and Thibaudeau's first win over a top 10 opponent this season.
"Doubles was key for us today," added Pate. "Auburn is very good in doubles and that was huge for us to gain momentum early. We really came out with a lot of energy and executed."
Senior Billy Mertz gave the Tide its first singles point with a win at No. 5 over senior Alex Petropoulos. Mertz earned an early break to pull in front 3-1 in the first and used that momentum to carry him on to a 6-3 win in the set. Things were closer throughout the second set until he was able to break away late at 5-3. Petropoulos would win one more game before Mertz put it away the set at 6-4. Auburn grabbed its first point of the match next with a win on court two where No. 118 Puetz grabbed a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 75 Thibaudeau.
Alabama moved closer to the match win as 24th-ranked Myneni earned the Tide's third point of the night with a victory at No. 1 over 35th-ranked Tsyrenov. The first set was close throughout its entirety until Myneni stood strong in the end to take the first set 7-5. The second set was just as close, but Myneni was able to win the final three games to take the set 6-4. Again, Auburn would inch its way closer as it picked up another singles win, this time coming at No. 4. Stamchev was able to come out on top in the first set 7-6(5), but needed no tiebreaker in the second set with a 6-3 win over Thompson.
The match would come down to courts three and six where Alabama would look to two of its seniors to step up. In the end, it would be Jung, who earned points when it counted most, to win 7-6(3), 7-5 over Krnjetin to clinch the dual match victory and collect his 30th singles win of the season.
On court three, Buikema was on his way back from a 6-3 first-set loss to Marsoun when the match was decided. The Alabama senior took the second set 6-4 and the final set was on serve with Marsoun ahead 4-3 when it ended.
"We'll enjoy this tonight, but we have a quick turnaround to get ready for the SEC tournament," said Pate.
Alabama now awaits its assignment for the 2009 SEC Men's Tennis Tournament that begins Thursday, April 23 at Auburn.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 33 Buikema/Thibaudeau (UA) def. No. 10 Tsyrenov/Puetz (AU) 8-6
2. No. 83 Mertz/Myneni (UA) def. Marsoun/Stamchev (AU) 8-5
3. Doverspike/Thompson (UA) def. Krnjetic/Montiero (AU) 8-5
Order of Finish: 2,3,1
Singles
1. No. 24 Saketh Myneni (UA) def. No. 35 Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) 7-5, 6-4
2. No. 118 Tim Puetz (AU) def. No. 75 Mathieu Thibaudeau (UA) 6-4, 6-2
3. Lukas Marsoun (AU) vs. Dan Buikema (UA) 6-3, 4-6, 4-3, unf.
4. Alex Stamchev (AU) def. Michael Thompson (UA) 7-6(5), 6-3
5. Billy Mertz (UA) def. Alex Petropoulos (AU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Michael Jung (UA) def. Milan Krnjetin (AU) 7-6(3), 7-5
Order of Finish: 5,2,1,4,6*
Players Mentioned
