State Netmen Fall 6-1 To Auburn
Auburn (8-3, 2-1 SEC) put the first point on the scoreboard, winning twoof the three doubles matches. At the #2 doubles position, Auburn's RobertLathouwers and Lucas Marsoun won 8-0 over State's sophomore duo of PhilippeFrayssinoux and Pierre Mouillon. The Bulldogs evened the doubles competitionwhen MSU's Ivan Bjelica and Jose-Carlos Pinto won an 8-2 decision over theTiger tandem of Terence Nugent and Alex Schweizer. The decisive match cameat the #3 spot where Auburn's Pawel Dilaj and Nick Lane rallied from twobreaks down to knock off State's pair of Ryan Farlow and Florent Girod by ascore of 8-6 and clinch the doubles point.
The Tigers waisted no time in extending their lead when singles playbegan. At the #6 position, Auburn's Marsoun defeated State freshman Eric Lim6-0, 6-1 to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Auburn extended their lead to 3-0when Pawel Dilaj won over MSU¹s Florent Girod 6-3, 6-1 at the #5 court. TheBulldogs closed the gap to 3-1 when senior Jose-Carlos Pinto knocked offAU's Milan Krnjetin 7-5, 6-1 at the #4 spot. The Tigers clinched the teamvictory when AU's Robert Lathouwers overmatched MSU's Frayssinoux 6-4, 6-1at the #2 spot, making the score 4-1. The two remaining matches both went toa third set before they were decided. The first completed was at the #1position where Auburn's Alex Schweizer overcame State's Bjelica 6-3, 3-6,6-3, pushing the score to 5-1. The final match was decided in a third-setsupertiebreaker. Tiger Nick Lane rallied in the tiebreaker to garner thevictory by a 6-4, 3-6, 1-0(9) score, giving Auburn their sixth point of theday.
MSU will continue activity on Sunday at home hosting Alabama at the A.J.Pitts Tennis Centre on the MSU campus. The Tide is 4-5 overall and 1-2 inconference play and are coming off a 7-0 loss to Mississippi on Friday. Thematch Sunday is set to get under way at 1 p.m.
#56 AUBURN 6, #61 MISSISSIPPI STATE 1
STARKVILLE, Miss.
Doubles - Ivan Bjelica/Jose-Carlos Pinto (MSU) def. Terence Nugent/AlexSchweizer (AU) 8-2; Robert Lathouwers/Lucas Marsoun (AU) def. PhilippeFrayssinoux/Pierre Mouillon (MSU) 8-0; Pawel Dilaj/Nick Lane (AU) def. RyanFarlow/Florent Girod (MSU) 8-6
Singles - Schweizer (AU) def. Bjelica (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Lathouwers(AU) def. Frayssinoux (MSU) 6-4, 6-1; Lane (AU) def. Mouillon (MSU) 6-4,3-6, 1-0(9); Pinto (MSU) def. Milan Krnjetin (AU) 7-5, 6-1; Dilaj (AU) def.Girod (MSU) 6-3, 6-1; Marsoun (AU) def. Eric Lim (MSU) 6-0, 6-1.