It was game, set and match for the Auburn University Men's Tennis team last Saturday as it beat the University of Southern Mississippi 6-1.
Despite head coach Eric Shore's use of the match as experience time for six freshmen, the Tigers won all three matches in which they participated.
In doubles competition, freshmen Tim Hewitt and Lucas Lopasso came out at No. 3 over SMU's Diego and Oscar Machuca 9-7.
Freshman Alexander Sajonz and sophomore Alex Stamchev played in the No. 2 spot, winning 8-5.
"I was really happy with our doubles today," Shore said.
"We changed up our line a little bit and saw some positive things from the team today. We felt like we had enough depth to handle it and we did."
No. 1 also belonged to Auburn, as junior Tim Puetz and freshman Andreas Mies topped the Golden Eagles 8-4.
"I think the match this weekend went very well overall," Puetz said. "We tried some new combinations in doubles and they all worked out very well and we won all three matches. I felt like I played well in doubles and fortunately got a point for our team."
Auburn did just as well moving into singles, as freshman Oliver Strecker beat Strate Krstevski 6-1 in two sets.
SMU's Diego Machuca then fell to Sajonz, who racked up his third win of the season in the 6-3 and 6-1 victories.
"I was very happy with our freshmen today," Shore said. "They got wins that they really needed as we head into conference play, which is a very tough part of our schedule coming up."
Mies walked away with 6-1 and 6-2 wins, while Hewitt won his two sets 7-5 and 6-2.
"We have a very young team this year with seven freshmen in the lineup," Puetz said. "I'm convinced the deeper we go into the season the better they'll get and they'll certainly win some big matches for us. Of course, the main goal is to win matches as a team, individual results don't matter very much."
Auburn takes to the road Feb. 28 against the University of Tulsa Hurricane in Oklahoma, set to begin at noon.
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