Auburn
No. 54 Cal Poly Edged by Auburn in ITA Kick-Off Weekend Finale
1/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – During the consolation match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend's Wake Forest bracket on Monday morning, 54th-ranked Cal Poly men's tennis was outlasted 4-3 by the 59th-ranked Auburn Tigers at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex. During Monday's match, Cal Poly had a lead of 1-0 and managed 2-2 and 3-3 ties before falling in the final singles matchup.
Cal Poly secured the doubles point to take the early advantage, but the Tigers collected two consecutive singles victories to grab a 2-1 lead. Mustang sophomore Axel Damiens drew Cal Poly even at 2-2 after a three-set victory over UA's Brandon Laubser, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4).
After Auburn's Conner Huertas defeated Cal Poly freshman Josh Ortlip at No. 4 in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8), the Mustangs again knotted the matchup after a comeback win by junior Corey Pang – his second in as many days – over UA's Dante Saleh in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
With the match even at three, Cal Poly freshman Aiku Shintani won his first set against UA's Olle Thestrup, 7-5, but wasn't able to capture either of the final two sets (3-6, 2-6) as Thestrup secured Auburn's match victory with a triumph in the final battle on Monday.
In doubles action to begin the day, Cal Poly's Pang and Ben Donovan beat Auburn's Marko Krickovic and Edward Nguyen at No. 1, 6-3 and Mustang juniors Garrett Auproux and Tim Tan defeated Huertas and Laubser at No. 2, 6-4. It was the second straight win for the Auproux/Tan pairing, while Cal Poly sophomore Karl Enander and Shintani had their matchup halted after the Mustangs won the doubles point.
Donovan and Auproux each battled Auburn's pair of nationally-ranked singles players in the first two solo positions, as Maxime Hinnisdaels (the ITA's 96th-ranked singles player) downed Donovan in consecutive sets, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 and Krickovic (No. 100) slipped by Auproux at No. 2, 6-2, 6-3.
Cal Poly falls to 0-2 during the spring schedule while the Tigers improve to 3-1.
No. 11 Wake Forest – the bracket's No. 1 seed – battles No. 43 Tennessee, the second seed, for the right to advance to the 2016 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship hosted by the University of Virginia from Feb. 12-15.
Cal Poly heads back on the road this week to visit Washington for a 5 p.m. Friday matchup and 2 p.m. Saturday bout with Portland. Both matches this weekend are in Seattle, Wash.
