No. 24 Texas A&M Men’s Tennis Falls 4-2 at Auburn

(Source: Katy Luffman/Texas A&M Athletics)

AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 24 Texas A&M men’s tennis team fell 4-2 at Auburn Sunday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Stadium. The Aggies fall to 18-10 on the season and 5-3 in league play while the Tigers move to 16-5 this spring and 5-3 in conference matches.

Auburn took the early lead with doubles wins on courts one and two. Jan Galka and Tyler Stice bested A&M’s Pierce Rollins and Giulio Perego, 6-3, on court two followed by A&M’s Stefan Storch and Austin Abbrat’s 6-4 win on court three. With the doubles point in the balance, the Tiger’s No. 60 duo of Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett edged A&M’s Kenner Taylor and Noah Schachter, 7-6(5), on the top court.

The Aggies claimed a pair of first sets in singles action, converting both into straight-set victories. In Auburn’s four first set wins in singles, the Tigers converted all three tiebreakers in their favor.

Perego controlled the match on court four, winning 6-3, 6-4 over Raul Dobai to even the team score at one-all. The Milan, Italy native, improved to a team-best 7-1 in SEC matches and 11-4 this spring.

Auburn’s Will Nolan tripped up Rollins 7-6, 6-3 on court five to push the hosts ahead 2-1.

A&M evened the match for the final time as Raphael Perot defeated No. 115 Galka 6-4, 6-4 on court two. The win was the second-straight for Perot, improving to 3-5 in league play and 15-14 this year.

The Tiger’s edged ahead 3-2 through a 7-6(8), 6-3 win on court one by No. 91 Stice over No. 56 Schachter. The match was clinched by Auburn’s Murgett topped A&M’s Luke Casper 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 on court six.

UP NEXT
Following the trip to Alabama, A&M will traverse the Sabine River to take on LSU on Friday, April 8 at 5 p.m. (CT) at the LSU Tennis Complex.

FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men’s tennis. Aggie fans can also keep up to date with the A&M men’s tennis team on Facebook or on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN.

QUOTES
Steve Denton, Texas A&M head coach

On the match…
“Today was a very tough match. I thought the difference was the big points especially in the tiebreakers where we lost the doubles point and lost three first sets in tiebreakers in singles that certainly could have swung the pendulum in our direction. We have to give Auburn credit, they were tougher than we were in those key moments today. We will be back to work on Tuesday. The best news of the weekend was that we got Rafael [Perot] back going again by winning both of his singles matches.”

RESULTS

Texas A&M vs Auburn
Apr 03, 2022 at Auburn, Ala.
(Yarbrough Tennis Center)

#29 Auburn 4, #24 Texas A&M 2

Singles competition
1. #91 Tyler Stice (AUB) def. #56 Noah Schachter (TAMU) 7-6 (10-8), 6-3
2. Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. #115 Jan Galka (AUB) 6-4, 6-4
3. #111 Tad Maclean (AUB) vs. Guido Marson (TAMU) 7-6 (7-2), 5-4, unfinished
4. Giulio Perego (TAMU) def. Raul Dobai (AUB) 6-3, 6-4
5. Will Nolan (AUB) def. Pierce Rollins (TAMU) 7-6 (7-0), 6-3
6. Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Luke Casper (TAMU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. #60 Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Kenner Taylor/Noah Schachter (TAMU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Jan Galka/Tyler Stice (AUB) def. Pierce Rollins/Giulio Perego (TAMU) 6-3
3. Stefan Storch/Austin Abbrat (TAMU) def. Jackson Ross/Raul Dobai (AUB) 6-4

Match Notes:
Texas A&M 18-10, 5-3; National ranking #24
Auburn 16-5, 5-3; National ranking #29
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,5,2,1,6)

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