The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Auburn
Blazer Tennis Team Falls To No. 29 Auburn, 6-1
2/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 6, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. ----- The UAB men's tennis team saw its season record evened at 1-1 here Friday as the Blazers fell to No. 29-ranked Auburn, 6-1.
While UAB played the Tigers close in the lower four singles matches, the Blazers' only win in the match came at No. 4 as junior Thomas Petrich defeated Alex Stamchev, 6-1, 6-2. The Tigers gained the clinching fourth win in the match at No. 6 singles as Alex Petropoulos downed the Blazers' Alex Emery, 6-3, 7-5.
"Auburn is very good and they are particularly strong in doubles," said UAB head coach Derek Tarr. "They beat Stanford and Vanderbilt both in doubles last week, so we knew they would be tough there. We definitely matched up better in singles, especially in the bottom four singles positions.
"I think those matches were all very winnable," Tarr said. "We just didn't capitalize on the opportunities that we had."
Auburn took a 1-0 lead in the match, sweeping all three doubles matchups. The No. 1 duo of Alexey Tysrenov and Tim Puetz beat the Blazer tandem of Dennis Ehrlich and Slawomir Szeremeta, 8-4. Meanwhile, UAB's tandem of Brian Ly and Emery, ranked No. 29 in the latest ITA rankings, lost to the Tigers' 19th-ranked team of Lukas Marsoun and Stamchev, 8-5.
Auburn also won at No. 3 doubles as Milan Krnjetin and Petropoulos defeated Daniel Moser and Dan Cornei, 8-4.
Puetz notched AU's first singles win with his 6-3, 6-1 win over UAB freshman Ehrlich.
Tsyrenov gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead with a straight set, 6-4, 6-0 win over Ly at No. 1 singles. After Petropoulous sealed the win for his team at No. 6, Petrich claimed UAB's only point with his win at No. 4. Krnjetin edged UAB's Moser at No. 5 by a 6-4, 6-4 while Marsoun outlasted the Blazers' Cornei with a comeback 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 victory at No. 3 singles for the match's only three-setter and its final point.
UAB, ranked No. 75, will be back in action Sunday and will face another difficult challenge as the Blazers travel to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 19th-ranked Alabama.
No. 29 Auburn 6, No. 75 UAB 1
Doubles
No. 1 - Alexey Tsyrenov/Tim Puetz (AU) def. Dennis Ehrlich/Slawomir Szeremeta (UAB) 8-4
No. 2 - Lukas Marsoun/Alex Stamchev (AU) def. Alex Emery/Brian Ly (UAB) 8-5
No. 3 - Milan Krnjetin/Alex Petropoulos (AU) def. Dan Cornei/Daniel Moser (UAB) 8-4
Singles
No. 1 - Tsyrenov (AU) def. Ly (UAB) 6-4, 6-0
No. 2 - Puetz (AU) def. Ehrlich (UAB) 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 - Marsoun (AU) def. Cornei (UAB) 2-6, 6-2, 1-0
No. 4 - Petrich (UAB) def. Stamchev (AU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 - Krnjetin (AU) def. Moser (UAB) 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 - Petropoulos (AU) def. Alex Emery (UAB) 6-3, 7-5
Records: Auburn 2-1, UAB 1-1
Players Mentioned
