The Auburn men’s tennis team faced South Carolina on Thursday, Feb. 26 in Auburn, AL.
The Tigers beat the 34th ranked Gamecocks 4-2. Auburn began the match losing the third court doubles match, but rallied to win courts one and two.
The second court doubles match was one by the Auburn pair of senior Lukas Ollert and junior Joseph Van Dooren by a score of 6-4.
Junior Marko Krickovic and Sophomore Oliver Plaskett won their court one doubles match over South Carolina’s Kyle Koch and Thiago Pinheiro 7-5.
After the match, Plaskett said even though Auburn looks better in singles on paper, doubles was crucial.
“I think that’s one of the best matches Marko and I have played together so far,” Plaskett said. “We’re getting better and improving, and it always feels good to clinch. That doubles point ended up being extremely important.”
The Tigers had a couple of tight singles matches. Between Krickovic, Hinnisdaels, and Plaskett, the Tigers needed at least two wins after Ollert cruised to a 6-2 6-4 victory.
Ollert said he was enjoying watching his teammates battle once he realized he would probably win his singles match.
“I felt pretty good.” Ollert said. “I was just looking down at the other courts and started getting excited. I knew I was playing good. I felt pretty good from court number one looking down at the other courts seeing that everyone was fighting. Everyone was doing their jobs.”
Hinnisdaels, despite being down in the third set, was able to come back and beat South Carolina’s Thiago Pinheiro 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Krickovic’s match against USC’s Andrew Adams remained unfinished at 6-2, 3-6, 5-3 because Plaskett was able to finish his opponent off in a second set tiebreaker 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
Coach Eric Shore said he was proud of the way his players fought, but was especially proud of the doubles match played by Krickovic and Plaskett.
“Marko stepped up big time in doubles,” Shore said. “He really raised his level. I mean, he was the man in doubles today. He stepped up and played some huge tennis for us, and Oliver somehow found a way to win us that service game.”
The Tigers, now 11-2, face the highest ranked SEC team Georgia Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Yarborough Tennis Center in Auburn. The Bulldogs come into the match ranked 7th in the nation, but the Tigers will look to defend their undefeated home record.
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