No. 30 Men Face Georgia Tech in Sunday Match - AuburnTigers.com - Auburn University Official Athletic Site

No. 30 Men Face Georgia Tech in Sunday Match Tigers aim to finish home-stand undefeated with win over Georgia Tech.

Feb. 21, 2009

AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 30 ranked Auburn men's tennis team will face out-of-state rival No. 56 Georgia Tech at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.

With the match being their third home competition in three weeks, the Tigers bring a 2-0 home record into action against the Jackets.

"Every year we play them it's a tough match," head coach Eric Shore mentioned. "I expect the same on Sunday. We've had some good matches against them in the past and I don't think this weekend will disappoint."

Last season, the Tigers traveled to Atlanta to face the Yellow Jackets and took a 5-2 win.

Auburn took control early, sweeping the doubles match-ups to earn the first point. In singles, both Puetz and Tsyrenov were among four Tigers to take wins. Tsyrenov's singles win came over now-sophomore Guillermo Gomez after the two battled through a marathon match, with Tsyrenov eventually emerging with the 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 win.

In Auburn's latest action, the Tigers struggled against Central Florida, eventually taking a 4-3 win over the Knights. Auburn earned the doubles point after taking two of the three match-ups, but met a determined UCF in singles. The Tigers split the singles play with the Knights, as Tim Puetz, Alexey Tsyrenov and Lukas Marsoun took their singles points to give Auburn the overall win.

"We've had a better week of practice," Shore noted. "We've been outside for the last couple of days. I think we'll have more energy and that we will be ready for the challenge."

In the most recent ITA rankings, three Tigers cracked the top-125. Senior Tsyrenov advanced eight spots to claim the No. 41 position. Appearing for the first time in the rankings are No. 56 Puetz and No. 120 Nick Maurillo.

Two Auburn doubles teams remained in the rankings as Tsyrenov and Puetz are ranked 15th, and Lukas Marsoun and Alex Stamchev rank 50th in the nation.

"I'm happy for Tim (Puetz)," said Shore. "He went from being unranked to being 56th, as he deserved. Alexey (Tsyrenov) had a tough test last week against a tough player and it's good to see him playing better now."

Action against the Yellow Jackets is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center.

Admission is free to all home matches. Fans that cannot make it to the match in person can follow along with live stats at AuburnTigers.com.