The University of South Florida men's tennis team suffered a tough loss to No. 26 Auburn, 5-2, at the USF Varsity Courts. The Bulls trailed 3-2 with two matches still on the court, but dropped both of them in third sets. USF is now 8-4 in dual match play this season.

“We battled hard with a good team,” USF head coach Don Barr said. “But to beat at top team like Auburn, you have to take advantage of every point, and we didn't do that today. We still need to do a better job of taking advantage of the doubles point because it is tough to win against good competition without it.”

Already trailing 1-0 due to the doubles loss, USF lost the first two matches off the courts to fall behind 3-0. Federico Sabogal came up short vs. Andreas Mies at No. 5, 6-0, 6-3, and Lucas Jovita fell in straight sets to Tim Puetz, 6-2, 6-1.

The Bulls' rally began with Wael Kilani picking up a win over Tim Hewitt, 6-4, 6-3 in the second position, and it continued with Yannick Yoshizawa winning 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 over Rafael Rondino in the fifth spot.

The match came down to Jamal Adderley, just off an injury, at No. 3 and Romain Deridder at No. 4. Adderley lost 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 to Alex Stamchev to give the match to the Tigers, and Deridder then dropped his match to Danial Cochrane, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5.

In doubles play earlier in the day, the USF lost all three matches by an 8-5 score. Kilani and Sabogal were the first to go down to Lucas Lopasso and Rondino, and Auburn clinched the point when Yoshizawa and Deridder lost to Mies and Stamchev. After the point was decided, Adderley and Jovita lost to  Puetz and Cochran to conlude the action.

USF takes on Tulsa at 12 p.m. on Thursday at the USF Varsity Courts.

Auburn 5, USF 2
March 16, 2011
USF Varsity Courts

Singles
1. Tim Puetz (AU) def. Lucas Jovita (USF), 6-2, 6-1
2. Wael Kilani (USF) def. Tim Hewitt (AU), 6-4, 6-3
3. Alex Stamchev (AU) def. Jamal Adderley (USF), 6-7, 6-3, 6-4
4. Daniel Cochrane (AU) def. Romain Deridder (USF), 6-7, 6-4, 7-5
5. Andreas Mies (AU) def. Federico Sabogal (USF), 6-0, 6-3
6. Yannick Yoshizawa (USF) def. Rafael Rondino (AU), 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Order of Finish – 5, 1, 2, 6, 3, 4

Doubles
1. Puetz/Cochrane (AU) def. Jovita/Adderley (USF), 8-5
2. Mies/Stamchev (AU) def. Yoshizawa/Deridder (USF), 8-5
3. Lucas Lopasso/Rondino (AU) def. Kilani/Sabogal (USF), 8-5
Order of Finish – 3, 2, 1