Tech Falls to Auburn, 4-1

Friday, May 6

Winston-Salem, N.C.

Noon (CT)

Texas Tech Athletics

Auburn

May 07, 2022 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

The Red Raiders saw their season come to a close Friday

By: Andrew Stern

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Texas Tech Red Raiders men's tennis team lost a heartbreaker 4-1 against the No. 24 ranked Auburn Tigers in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday afternoon at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.

Dimitrios Azoidis continued to impress in singles, putting the lone point on the board for Tech. Friday's match increased Azoidis' win total to a team-best 15 for the season.

Doubles play proved to be crucial in the totality of the match, as Auburn took the doubles point.

Azoidis and his partner Reed Collier set the tone on court No. 2 as they cruised to a 6-2 victory.

On court one, No. 86 Issac Arevalo and Piotr Pawlak fell behind early and could not recover, as the duo dropped their match to sixth-ranked Tad McClean and Finn Murgett.

With the doubles point hanging in the balance, Fransico Vittar and Olle Wallin fought their way to a tiebreaker. The duo found themselves down 6-3 in the breaker. The No. 3 doubles team won back-to-back points drawing the score to 6-5, but Auburn, on serve was able to close out the set and the doubles point.

The Tigers rode that momentum into singles play, using a 6-1, 6-1 victory on court six to take a 2-0 lead.

Before another match could conclude, the weather ceased play for 45 minutes as the match moved indoors.

After the venue change, Auburn quickly made it 3-0, when No. 18 Tyler Stice dropped No. 68 Arevalo two and two. With his team's back against the wall Azoidis tried to spark a comeback as he put the Red Raiders on the board with a score of 7-6, 6-0, but Auburn ultimately sealed the match on court two when Collier fell in straight sets (7-6 (6), 6-0).

With the match tied at six apiece, Auburn's Jan Galka took the first set by scoring back-to-back points, setting the tone for the second set, which ended 6-0.