Walton and Wallner Earn Three Combined Wins on Senior Day as #5 Vols Tame Tigers, 6-1 For 20th Win

Sunday, April 17

Knoxville, TN

1 PM

University of Tennessee

Auburn

Walton and Wallner Earn Three Combined Wins on Senior Day as #5 Vols Tame Tigers, 6-1 For 20th Win

April 17, 2022 | Men's Tennis

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The fifth-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team used a convincing 6-1 win over Auburn to close the regular season Sunday afternoon at Barksdale Stadium.

Tennessee (20-6, 8-4 SEC) wraps up the regular season red-hot entering next week's SEC Tournament, having won six of its last seven matches and improves to 11-3 at home this season with Sunday's win. Auburn (18-9, 5-7 SEC) drops its fourth consecutive SEC match to wrap up regular-season action.

As doubles got rolling, the Vols jumped on the Tigers early, as all three courts went up a break within a 90-second span, each taking a 3-1 advantage. The 43rd-ranked pairing of Adam Walton and Pat Harper quickly defeated #16 Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett of Auburn, 6-1 for UT's first doubles win.

Walton and Harper have won their last 10 completed doubles matches together, and finish the regular season with a perfect 9-0 doubles record together in SEC play. The Tennessee Aussies defeated Maclean and Murgett last May to claim the 2021 NCAA Doubles National Championship.

The Vols clinched the doubles point for an 18th time this season, as Mark Wallner and Johannus Monday toppled Maxwell Giddens and Josh Raab, 6-2 on court three. Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui, the nation's 32nd-ranked doubles duo, led Auburn's Tyler Stice and Jan Galka, 5-3 before going unfinished.

Tennessee's first singles win came on court six, as senior Martim Prata toppled Auburn's Will Nolan, 6-0, 6-4. Prata won the first nine games of the match to go up a set and a break and won the match's final two games, including a match-winning break in the second set to capture the victory.

Walton, ranked as the nation's No. 12 singles player, took down Auburn's #34 Stice in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Walton went up a pair of breaks in the first set at 4-0 before polishing off the win.

Eighth-ranked Monday clinched the match by earning his second singles win of the weekend, powering past Galka, 6-4, 6-4. Monday jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first set and used that momentum to take down Galka. Tennessee's 75th-ranked Hudd bounced back from dropping set one to Auburn's #124 Maclean to win the match in a 10-point third-set tiebreak, 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-4).

Tennessee freshman Mitsui added to his case for SEC Freshman of the Year by overcoming Auburn's Raul Dobai, also in a 10-point third-set tiebreak, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (12-10). Mitsui earned a break in the first game of set two and battled for a set win and eventual match win. Mitsui improves to 20-3 (10-1 SEC) in dual singles matches this season and 30-7 overall on the singles courts.

Tennessee junior Angel Diaz dropped a close, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 decision to Auburn's Murgett on court five.

20 WINS
With Sunday's win over Auburn, Tennessee has now amassed 20 or more wins in each of the past four full seasons. The Vols were 14-2 when the 2020 dual season was shut down due to COVID-19 and reached the 20-win mark in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

SENIOR DAY SUCCESS
Tennessee's two honorees on this year's Senior Day saw great success in Sunday's win over the Tigers, with Walton earning a singles and doubles win and Wallner clinching doubles with Monday. With Walton's doubles win, he moves to 98 career doubles triumphs, needing just two more to become the sixth Vol in program history to accrue 100 career doubles and 100 career singles wins. Wallner's doubles victory marks his 54th since joining the Vols in the fall of 2019.

UP NEXT
The SEC Tournament begins Wednesday, with Tennessee's opponent to be officially announced Sunday evening.

RESULTS
Doubles

1. #43 Adam Walton/Pat Harper (UT) def. #16 Tad Maclean/Finn Murgett (AUB) 6-1
2. #32 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) vs. Tyler Stice/Jan Galka (AUB) 5-3, unfinished
3. Mark Wallner/Johannus Monday (UT) def. Maxwell Giddens/Josh Raab (AUB) 6-2

Order of Finish: (1,3)

Singles

1. #12 Adam Walton (UT) def. #34 Tyler Stice (AUB) 6-2, 6-3
2. #8 Johannus Monday (UT) def. Jan Galka (AUB) 6-4, 6-4
3. #75 Emile Hudd (UT) def. #124 Tad Maclean (AUB) 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-4)
4. Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Raul Dobai (AUB) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (12-10)
5. Finn Murgett (AUB) def. Angel Diaz (UT) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
6. Martim Prata (UT) def. Will Nolan (AUB) 6-0, 6-4

Order of Finish: (6,1,2,3,4,5)