Men’s tennis kicks off the spring slate with a doubleheader on Sunday

AUBURN, Ala. Auburn men’s tennis is scheduled to open the 2023 spring season with a home match Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Tigers open the season against Michigan State at noon CT and Alabama State at 5:00 PM CT.

“As we get better as a program, we’re going to schedule tougher teams early in the year, and that’s what I wanted to do with Michigan State,” head coach Bobby Reynolds said of the opening against the Spartans. “We’re playing indoors in both games and this is a good opportunity to give our guys a wake-up call that we have to hit the ground running from the start.”

The Tigers enter the game ranked No. 24 by ITA, Auburn’s highest preseason ranking since 2013 and highest preseason ranking since the head coach. Bobby Reynolds took the helm in 2016. Individually, 2022 All-SEC first team Tyler Stice and Will Nolan participate in the spring season ranked 66th in singles and 110th in ties, respectively. 2022 All-American singles Find Murgett start the season with a new doubles partner Tad Maclean completed after the 2022 campaign.

“The expectations are different this year, both from the coach’s perspective and the players’ perspective,” Coach Reynolds said. “Our goal last year was to get to the tournament. The goal wasn’t a hard goal for us because of how we felt as a team, but a goal that these guys had never been a part of, so the emotional side of finally making the tournament was a big mental win for them.”

Michigan State freshman Ozan Baris finished the fall season as the lone Spartan as he is ranked No. 26^th in the nation as singles. Michigan State finished last season with a 15-14 record, while Alabama State went 12-7 and won the SWAC Conference Championship.

Both matches will be held on the indoor courts of the Yarbrough Tennis Center at 1717 Richland Road in Auburn. Fans attending both matches will receive complimentary donuts and an Auburn tennis key chain. Live scores for the game are available at AuburnTigers.com.