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Jan. 28, 2012

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AUBURN - The 20th-ranked Auburn men's tennis team will face its toughest tests thus far in the 2012 season as they travel to Atlanta for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, where the Tigers will face 19th-ranked Georgia Tech at noon Sunday.

The Tigers (2-0) will then face either No. 15 Illinois or No. 18 North Carolina on Monday, depending on the outcome of Sunday's matches. The Illini and Tar Heels square off in Sunday's first match at the Bill Moore Tennis Center at Georgia Tech. The winners of the two matches will meet at noon Monday for a chance to advance to the ITA National Indoor Team Championships, which will be held Feb. 17-20 in Charlottesville, Va.

Auburn trails the all-time series with Georgia Tech 27-14, and the Yellow Jackets have won the last two meetings by a 4-3 score. The Tigers have a 7-6 advantage over North Carolina, defeating the Tar Heels last year in Auburn by a 7-0 score. Auburn and Illinois have only met twice in their history, splitting a pair of decisions. The last meeting came in the 1998 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals when the Tigers won 4-0.

Live scoring for both matches will be available through RamblinWreck.com.

ABOUT THE TIGERS
Auburn enters the week at 2-0 overall after a pair of 7-0 sweeps of Troy and Middle Tennessee State to open the season. The Tigers have not lost a match in singles or doubles so far in the 2012 dual season.

Junior Andreas Mies, ranked No. 18 in the ITA singles rankings, is a perfect 2-0 at the No. 1 singles position, as is senior Alex Stamchev at No. 2 singles. Sophomore Daniel Cochrane made his spring season debut Friday at No. 3 singles, while junior Lucas Lopasso and sophomore Rafael Rondino are unbeaten at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively. Freshman Lukas Ollert, who joined the team at the beginning of the spring semester, has been outstanding at the No. 6 position with a pair of straight-sets wins.

In doubles, Stamchev is one win shy of tying the all-time doubles record at Auburn. His next victory will be his 96th as a Tiger, matching 2005 Wimbledon doubles champion Stephen Huss for the all-time Auburn mark. Stamchev is 5-1 when paired with Mies, making them the No. 6-ranked doubles team in the nation, and he is 7-0 when playing with Cochrane.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH
The 19th-ranked Yellow Jackets are 1-1 in dual competition, defeating Old Dominion and falling to No. 13 Tennessee last week. Leading the way is the nation's No. 2-ranked doubles team in Kevin King and Juan Spir, who were ranked No. 1 in the nation during the fall. The Tech duo defeated Stamchev and Mies in the semifinal of the ITA All-American Championship in October, handing Stamchev his only doubles loss so far in his senior year. King also leads Georgia Tech in singles with a 16-3 record this year.

ABOUT ILLINOIS
No. 15 Illinois is off to a 3-0 start with wins over Detroit, Ball State and Notre Dame to open the season. Senior Dennis Nevolo - ranked No. 2 in the national rankings - and freshman Tim Kopisnki lead the Fighting Illini with undefeated marks in both singles and doubles play so far this season. Senior Roy Kalamanovich is ranked No. 24 in the nation as well.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA
The 18th-ranked Tar Heels are 1-1 to open 2012, falling to No. 6 Stanford but defeating No. 23 Tulsa in their initial pair of matches. Junior Jose Hernandez, ranked No. 30 in the nation, leads North Carolina so far this season. Two UNC doubles teams - Brennan Boyajian/Oystein Steiro and Joey Burkhardt/Esben Hess-Olesen - earned wins over nationally ranked opponents in the Tar Heels' victory over Tulsa last week.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend, the Tigers will have more than a week off from competition before coming back home for a three-match homestand. Auburn will next be in action Friday, Feb. 10, when the Tigers host Southern Miss at 2 p.m.

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