AUBURN, Ala. – The Citadel tennis team dropped a pair of matches on the road Friday afternoon in the state of Alabama to begin the current road trip.

The Bulldogs opened the day with a tough battle against Point, the No. 8 team in NAIA, but the 'Dogs came up short against the Skyhawks, falling 4-3 in a neutral-site match. The 'Dogs then went up against Auburn, falling 7-0 despite managing to take some early games from the Tigers.

Match 1 Information
Location: Valley, Ala. (Sportsplex)
Final Score: Point 4, The Citadel 3
Records: The Citadel (2-6), Point (2-1)

Match 1 Rundown

• Point started the day's first match by taking the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.
• Gavin Stewart and Zvonko Bencedic joined forces to record their fifth doubles victory together, and fourth at No. 1.
• Bencedic, Noah Nawabi and Jack Pyritz all bounced back to help the Bulldogs knot the score at 3-all with No. 4 singles being the deciding point.
• Guido Luna defeated Willem van Zyl 6-2, 6-0 to secure the match point for the Skyhawks.

Match 1 Results
Doubles
1. Gavin Stewart / Zvonko Bencedic (The Citadel) def. Federico Barbon / Julien Pereira (Point) 9-8
2. Joe Klokow / Patrick Tobacco (Point) def. Noah Nawabi / Phillip Quinn (The Citadel) 8-3
3. Guido Luna / Eugenio Devoto (Point) def. Will Graham / Willem van Zyl (The Citadel) 8-6

Singles
1. Klokow (Point) def. Stewart (The Citadel) 5-6, 6-3, 6-0
2. Barbon (Point) def. Graham (The Citadel) 6-4, 6-4
3. Nawabi (The Citadel) def. Pereira (Point) 6-4, 6-3
4. Luna (Point) def. van Zyl (The Citadel) 6-2, 6-0
5. Bencedic (The Citadel) def. Maust (Point) 6-2, 6-3
6. Jack Pyritz (The Citadel) def. Devoto (Point) 6-1, 6-3


Match 2 Information
Location: Auburn, Ala. (Yarbrough Tennis Center)
Final Score: Auburn 7, The Citadel 0
Records: The Citadel (2-7), Auburn (7-2)

Match 2 Rundown

• The second match of the doubleheader saw the Tigers of Auburn claim the doubles point behind victories at No. 1 and No. 2, but Nawabi and Phillip Quinn were tied 3-3 with 55^th-ranked Tim Dollman and Michael Durham at No. 3 when play was suspended to begin singles action.
• In singles play, the Tigers claimed the No. 1 and No. 2 singles points to go up 3-0 on the 'Dogs.
• Auburn won match point at No. 6 with a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
• At No. 3 singles, Nawabi managed to take six games from Spencer Gray before falling 6-3, 6-3.
• Bencedic fell 6-1 in the first set of his No. 5 matchup, but bounced back to claim five games in a 7-5 loss in the second set.
• Quinn was the final Bulldog on the court. Quinn took the first set from Anders Fry, 6-3. Fry bounced back with a 6-2 win in the second set and won the point behind a 10-2 tiebreaker.

Match 2 Results
Doubles
1. Matteo DeVincentis / Tyler Stice (Auburn) def. Gavin Stewart / Zvonko Bencedic (The Citadel) 6-1
2. Anders Fry / Diego Chavarria (Auburn) def. Willem van Zyl / Leo du Plooy (The Citadel) 6-1
3. Noah Nawabi / Phillip Quinn (The Citadel) vs. #55 Tim Dollman / Michael Durham (Auburn) 3-3, unfinished

Singles
1. DeVincentis (Auburn) def. Stewart (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-1
2. Finn Murgett (Auburn) def. Graham (The Citadel) 6-1, 6-2
3. Spencer Gray (Auburn) def. Nawabi (The Citadel) 6-3, 6-3
4. Fry (Auburn) def. Quinn (The Citadel) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-2)
5. Durham (Auburn) def. Bencedic (The Citadel) 6-1, 7-5
6. Chavarria (Auburn) def. Jack Pyritz (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-2
 
QUOTABLES FROM COACH KRIESE
"We knew that today would be a tall task with playing two matches, one outdoors and one inside. I'm very disappointed in losing the first match. Point is No. 8 in NAIA, but it's still one that got away. We did not play well, but give Point a lot of credit. They are well-coached  and put us under the gun the entire match.

"Against Auburn, I thought we had a poor showing in doubles. We played indoors with some fast courts and just never caught up with the ball. In singles play, I thought we played four very good points. At one and two, they were just better, but Noah put up another very solid match for us at No. 3. He was on the court of 2 hours, and Phillip is really coming alive. To round out, Zvonko was down but battled back and had a set point in the second set, but he just fell short. We'll keep working. We have a day off to prepare for Georgia Tech and then we'll have some rest before we play again."

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs are scheduled to play Georgia Tech on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. The 'Dogs will then be off from outside competition for close to two weeks and are slated to next compete by opening the Southern Conference schedule with a pair of road matches on Friday, Feb. 21 and Sunday, Feb. 23. The 'Dogs will first travel to Chattanooga on Feb. 21 for a 2:30 p.m. match with the Mocs. The Bulldogs will then return to South Carolina, playing Furman on Feb. 23 in a 3 p.m. match.

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