Trojans Fall to Nationally-Ranked Auburn on the Road

Sunday, February 6

Auburn, AL

1:00 p.m.

Troy University

(31) Auburn University

Trojans Fall to Nationally-Ranked Auburn on the Road

2/6/2011 6:14:25 PM | Tennis (M)

Troy has faced five consecutive ranked opponents, and will face another next week

By: Travis Jarome

Box Score

AUBURN, Ala. - For the fifth consecutive match to open the season, the 65th-ranked Troy University men's tennis team fell to a ranked team. This time they dropped a 7-0 decision to 31st-ranked Auburn at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in non-conference action.

"We finally made some progress today," Troy head coach Eric Hayes said. "The final score may not show it, but we played extremely well today. Our first seven matches this season are a lot like murderer's row, with each of the first seven teams we play having the chance to earn high seeds in the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year.

"We just have to hang with the schedule we have, and I am convinced that at the end of the year we will be in contention for the conference championship."

Auburn (2-1) jumped ahead early by claiming the doubles point after a sweep of the Trojans. The Tigers won at number one, 8-0, before clinching the match with an 8-3 victory at number two.

In singles action, Troy (0-5) made strides against the home team.

"We came out and controlled the match at the start with our doubles play," head coach Eric Shore said. "Troy battled back in singles competition and we give them credit for putting together a tough match. We're going to continue to improve and we're looking forward to a solid season."

Andreas Mies claimed a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Troy's Jamie Eccleton at number six to claim a 2-0 match lead; before Alex Stamchev defeated Troy's Anas Rouchdi 6-2, 6-2 for an overall match lead of 3-0.

From there, in the other four matches, the Trojans challenged each of the Auburn singles players. At number three, freshman Sami Ghorbel fell to 65th-ranked Tim Hewitt but not before he challenged the nationally-ranked player. Ghorbel fought Hewitt point-for-point in the first set and forced a tiebreaker. Unfortunately he came up short as he fell 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in a match that clinched the overall match for Auburn.

At number four, senior Mario Rolemberg fell to Auburn's Daniel Cochrane, but not before challenging for the win. The senior fell 6-4, 7-5 in the fifth match of the season, just a day after winning a match at Alabama.

Senior Branko Weber faced Tim Puetz at number one, two foes who have faced off before in fall tournaments. Puetz came away the winner, but not before Weber challenged him in the first set before falling 7-5, 6-3.

Meanwhile, at number five, freshman Niklas Jonsson fell to Auburn's Rafael Rondino in the best match of the day. The two battled for three sets before Rondino came out on top 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.

The Trojans return to action next week on the road at nationally-ranked Miami (Fla.).

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