Men's Tennis Edged by Auburn

Friday, March 14

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

5:00 p.m

Alabama

Auburn

3/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

March 14, 2014

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The men's tennis team was outlasted by Auburn Friday night as the Tigers won 4-2 at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The last three points all came in three-setters for Auburn. With the loss, the Crimson Tide stands at 9-8 overall and 2-3 against Southeastern Conference opponents, while the win lifts the Tigers to 14-5 on the season and 4-1 in league matches.

"We had opportunities, but we just didn't execute," said Alabama head coach George Husack. "We didn't play smart enough down the stretch. Auburn was more solid than we were. We have to improve our ability to stick to our game plan and be relentless with our attack."

Alabama took a 1-0 lead following doubles with wins from courts one and three. Following an 8-3 victory for Auburn on court two, the Tide's Stuart Kenyon and Andrew Goodwin evened the count as they posted an 8-3 win of their own on court three. The point then came down to the matchup on court one where Alabama's Becker O'Shaughnessey and Daniil Proskura, ranked 62nd nationally, got off to a hot start, winning five of the first six games. Leading 7-4, O'Shaughnessey served up the match-winner, which was returned into the net, giving the Tide an 8-4 win over Dan Cochrane and Oliver Plaskett.

Auburn's Joseph Van Dooren was awarded the first singles point of the match, winning 6-4, 6-2 on court four over Nikko Madregallejo. Goodwin's 6-3, 6-3 victory on court six put Alabama back in front, but the Tigers would jump on top with back-to-back wins, first on court five as Dante Saleh won 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 over Hayes Brewer, then on court two with Lukas Ollert winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 against O'Shaughnessey. That left courts one and three for either the Alabama comeback or the Auburn clincher. With both matches in third sets, it would come down to the wire, but ultimately went in the Tigers' favor as Cochrane clinched with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory on court one over Proskura. Kenyon led 5-7, 6-3, 5-3 when his match was suspended.

Alabama will be back in action on Monday when it hosts the fourth-ranked Southern California Trojans at 5 p.m. CT at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.

Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaMTN on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.