The No. 37 Auburn Men's Tennis team opened up the SEC Tournament with a win over No. 64 Arkansas Thursday.
Arkansas opened the match with a win at No. 2 doubles, but the doubles point was secured for the Tigers by nationally-ranked pair junior Tim Puetz and sophomore Alex Stamchev in No. 1 doubles.
"We keep improving in doubles," said assistant coach Gabor Pelva. "This year that's not our strength, but we keep improving, which is the main thing for us."
The Tigers added to their score going into singles, with a minor comeback by Arkansas at No. 5 singles.
No. 20 Puetz sealed the Auburn win at No. 1 singles, defeating Arkansas' Christopher Nott in two sets.
"Against Arkansas, I think we were favored," Pelva said.
In day two, the Tigers advanced to the conference semifinals after upsetting No. 11 Georgia.
"We've only beaten Georgia five times, I believe, in Auburn history," Pelva said. "That was a great win for us. Coming back and beating them, 4-3, just shows that our team kept improving."
Freshmen Tim Hewitt and Lucas Lopasso began the doubles play with an 8-5 win over the Bulldogs, the duo's third consecutive victory and second during the conference tournament.
Puetz and Stamchev also came out with an 8-5 win over Georgia in No. 1 doubles.
Junior Michel Monteiro and freshman Andreas Mies were tied at 4-4 with the Bulldogs in No. 2 doubles before the play was called.
"This was the first time any of us had beaten Georgia, so we were really happy," Puetz said.
The singles competition was a back and forth battle until Mies achieved a two-set win in No. 6 singles, which secured the Auburn win.
Auburn ended its run in the SEC tournament on day three in the match against the Florida Gators, with a final score of 4-1.
Florida achieved an early advantage in doubles and maintained the lead until the match was called with a score of 6-5.
"We did what we were supposed to do," Stamchev said. "I was disappointed, but everybody played well."
Auburn continued to fall throughout the singles competition until Puetz outplayed Florida's No. 5 player, 6-3, 6-4, the highest ranked opponent Puetz has beaten this season.
Florida eventually tightened their grip once and for all and claimed the match with a court six win.
"In the game against Florida, I feel that our team did not have the belief that we could beat them," Pelva said. "After the big win against Georgia, the energy level was low. We played hard, but it just wasn't enough, and we just did not catch up in certain spots."
The selection show for NCAA Regionals will be held May 4, and the team will compete again May 14.
"We're really young, so I hope next year the guys will have more experience and know what to expect,"
Puetz said.
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