As reported by the Auburn University website, the men’s team won the 75th National Blue-Grey Tennis Classic! For the first time since 1984, the The Tigers defeated three ranked opponents en route to the championship. Auburn defeated #44 Texas Tech in the first round, #25 Middle Tennessee in the semifinals, and #14 Arizona in the final.
After a slight rain delay on Friday, Auburn and Texas Tech started in singles, which was all the Tigers needed to earn a first-round win.. Murgett and Tyler Stice each won their matches in straight sets to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead.
Dobai then took a close third set to claim the point on court six and freshman Alejandro Moreno came back after dropping his first set to win on court two and clinch the match for Auburn 4-1. Auburn then played the doubles portion of the game against their next opponent, No.
25 central Tennessee, Friday night. Stice and Moreno won their game on court three to give Auburn the lead, then the doubles team of Dobai and Murgett, the 46th-ranked doubles team in the nation, defeated No. 44 Francisco Rocha and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen in a closed victory by 7-6. to claim double points for the Tigers.
Murgett was the first to claim victory in straight sets on court four. Shortly after Murgett’s win, Stice defeated No. 69 Stijn Slump in straight sets by a score of 6-1, 7-5, bringing the Tigers within one point of victory. After taking the first set in a tiebreaker, Galka recovered his second set 6-0 over Marcel Kamrowski to give Auburn a 4-0 victory in the semifinals.
The semifinal victory set up a prime-time championship game with No. 14 Arizona. The Wildcats had defeated Nebraska and No. 41 Oklahoma earlier in the tournament to earn their ticket to the Finals. Murgett and Dobai got Auburn off to a great start on the doubles court, defeating Jonas Ziverts and Jay Friend on one court 6-2.
Galka and Billy Blaydes then won their two court match 6-4 to capture the doubles point. For the third time in as many games, Murgett was the first to finish in a sensational 6-1, 6-1 victory on court four. The Wildcats then picked up wins on fields one and three to tie the game at two.
Blaydes then won a crucial game to take the third set on court six and help Auburn regain a 3-2 lead. Needing just one more win to regain the championship, Galka came back after dropping his first set to defeat Herman Hoeyeraal on court five 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Senior Finn Murgett was named tournament MVP after the final game for his incredible weekend in which he went perfect 3-0 in singles and doubles.. Additionally, Elder Jan Galka received the tournament’s sportsmanship award.
Murgett said, «I think we’ve hit our stride in the last few days. Playing in front of an Auburn crowd, it’s very easy to compete with everyone rooting for us. We’re learning that it’s the team that has to be successful.» and everyone can contribute.
I’m starting to understand that my college career is coming to a dead end and I want to make the most of it and compete as hard as possible.» Bobby Reynolds said: «This championship has been a long time coming.
There has been a lot of heartbreak for us here over the years, but this year has been worth it. We have a great group of guys who fight each other. They understand that the individual is not as important as the team that comes together and can dig deeper.
No matter what the obstacle, they are always next. What we played was a great Arizona team, and this will be great preparation for the SEC season ahead of us.»
About Auburn University
Auburn is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States.
With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 teachers, it is one of the largest in the state. Auburn University’s sports teams are known as the Tigers and compete in NCAA Division IA and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) West Division.
Auburn has won 19 intercollegiate championships (including 17 NCAA championships), three in football (1913, 1957, 2010), 8 in men’s swimming and diving (1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 ), 5 in women’s swimming and diving (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007), 2 in horse riding (2008, 2011) and one in women’s athletics (2006).
Auburn has also won a total of 70 Southeastern Conference titles, 51 men’s and 19 women’s. Auburn’s colors are orange and blue, chosen by George Petrie, the head coach of the university’s football team, inspired by the colors of his alma mater, the University of Virginia.
Auburn was founded on February 7, 1856 during the presidency of Franklin Pierce, as East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts school affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1872, the college became the first public university to benefit from the Morrill Act and was renamed the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College. Photo credits: Auburn University website
