March 12, 2008

AUBURN - The No. 28-ranked Auburn men's tennis team hopes to bounce back from a two-match losing streak this weekend as the team travels to Montgomery, Ala., for the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic.

The Tigers (6-5, 2-2 SEC) take on Brown University (6-6) in the first round of the tournament on Thursday at 9 a.m. The winner will take on the winner of the Oklahoma State-Furman match.

Auburn enters the tournament after dropping a pair of SEC road matches last weekend, falling to No. 5 Ole Miss (4-1) and No. 49 Mississippi State (4-3).

"I was not happy with the way we played last weekend," head coach Eric Shore said. "Hopefully, it was a wake-up call to the guys, and I expect us to come out ready to play this Thursday."

The match against Brown will be the first meeting between the Tigers and the Bears. Although both teams have traveled to the Blue-Gray Classic multiple times in recent years, the two have never had the opportunity to compete head-to-head.

Brown has not had much success in the tournament in recent years, going 0-3 in 2006 and 2007, but Shore said he is not taking this match for granted.

"Brown is a good team and they have a good coach," Shore said. "We have never played them before so I am not sure what to expect, but I do know we are going to have to be ready to play if we expect to win."

The Tigers were 1-2 in last year's tournament with a win over Fresno State, 4-2, in the first round followed by losses to Notre Dame, 4-1, and Virginia Commonwealth, 4-2.

The tournament bracket is set up so that every team is guaranteed three matches. Each match consists of doubles and singles portion, just like in dual play, but the match is stopped as soon as it is clinched in order to save time.

The first round places the teams in two separate brackets. The first round winners move on to the quarterfinals and the losers into a consolation bracket. The team that wins all three of their matches is crowned tournament champions.

The 2008 Blue-Gray Tournament field consists of Tulsa, William & Mary, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Boise State, Penn State, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Furman, Brown, Auburn, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Fresno State and Virginia Commonwealth.

Live stats for the matches can be found by accessing the tournament Web site at www.BlueGrayTennis.com.