Men's tennis defeated by Auburn 4-1

The University of Arkansas men’s tennis team was edged in the doubles and went on to drop a 4-1 decision to No. 26 Auburn Sunday at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Ark. With the loss, Arkansas fell to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in the SEC. Auburn’s record stands at 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the league.

Matches were suspended when the doubles point and the overall score was decided due to Auburn travel plans. After Arkansas lost at the top of the double lineup, UA’s Dmitry Lebedev and Chris Nott were narrowly defeated on court two by Alex Stamchev and Lukas Marsoun, 9-7. At the time doubles action ended, UA’s Tyler Tarnasky and Bradwin Williams held a 7-5 advantage over Auburn’s Michel Monteiro and Milan Krnjetin.

“We showed a little heartbeat and we had our chances,” said UA head coach Robert Cox. “We needed to close out some sets and get them into third sets. I thought we looked a lot better than we did Friday, but the doubles hurt us again. We need to get a lot more competitive at doubles. Blake (Strode) was the highlight for us today. It was nice to see him get a win after sliding a little bit.”

Auburn got the victory with wins on two, five and six. Arkansas senior (#15) Blake Strode got the Razorbacks on the scoreboard with a straight-set 6-0, 6-3 showing over Auburn’s 69th-ranked Alexey Tsyrenov on court one. The win improved Strode to 17-7 overall and 7-3 in dual matches.

Arkansas travels to Stillwater, Okla., for its next match which is the first of three straight away from Fayetteville. The Razorbacks will take on the Cowboys at 2 p.m. on March 11.

#26 Auburn 4, #56 Arkansas 1March 8, 2009Fayetteville, Arkansas

Singles#15 Blake Strode (Ark.) def. #69 Alexey Tsyrenov (Aub.), 6-0, 6-3 #105 Tim Puetz (Aub.) def. #120 Matt Hogan (Ark.), 6-3, 7-6 (4)Chris Nott (Ark.) vs. Lukas Marsoun (Aub.) 6-1, 5-6 DNFDmitry Lebedev (Ark.) vs. Milan Krnjetin (Aub.) 6-1, 4-5 DNFAlex Stamchev (Aub.) def. Tyler Tarnasky (Ark.) 6-1, 6-2Alex Petropoulos (Aub.) def. Taylor King (Ark.) 6-3, 7-5

Doubles#11 Alexey Tsyrenov/Tim Puetz (Aub.) def. #60 Matthew Hogan/Blake Strode(Ark.), 8-4Alex Stamchev/Lukas Marsoun (Aub.) def. Dmitry Lebedev/Christopher Nott (Ark.), 9-7Tyler Tarnasky/Bradwin Williams (Ark.) vs. Michel Monteiro/Milan Krnjetin (Aub.), 7-5 DNF

Order of FinishDoubles: 1, 2*Singles: 5, 2, 1, 6*

*-Clinching Match