AUBURN, Ala. – The 25th-ranked Auburn women's tennis team picked up two more wins Sunday to close out an unbeaten opening weekend at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
The Tigers (4-0) defeated Central Arkansas 4-3 in the morning match then came back in the afternoon to earn a 4-0 win over Mercer.
"I thought overall the weekend was really good because it showed us where we are at this point," Auburn head coach Lauren Spencer said. "It also gave us the opportunity to see what we needed to clean up and work on for the Kickoff Weekend. I thought UCA and Mercer did a good job of fighting and making us earn every point. They have some solid players, so that gave us good opportunities to face some adversity early on.
"I thought our doubles continued to improve, and I was really excited about that because we put a couple of different combos out there and they all responded. What we've been doing in practice has set us up to have confidence to play well."
Auburn clinched the doubles point over Central Arkansas with a 6-0 win from Jaeda Daniel and Madeline Meredith at the No. 2 spot, then earned a 6-1 win at the top spot from Sophia Graver and Taylor Russo.
Daniel gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win at the top singles spot, then Meredith finished off a 6-1, 6-1 win on court three. A 6-2, 6-1 win by Yu Chen at No. 6 singles clinched the victory for Auburn before Central Arkansas won the remaining three matches, two of them in third-set, 10-point tiebreakers.
In the afternoon match against Mercer, Graver and Russo stayed unbeaten on the season with a 6-1 doubles win at the No. 2 spot, and Chen and Lindsay Song clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win on court three.
Caroline Turner earned a singles win at the No. 5 spot when her opponent retired in the second set with Turner leading 6-1, 3-0. Russo made it 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 win on court three, and Chen clinched the victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 4 spot.
The Tigers will return to action next week in the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Atlanta at the Byers Tennis Center at Georgia Tech. Auburn will face Kentucky in a non-conference match at noon Saturday; the winner will then face the winner of Georgia Tech and Ohio State on Sunday.
For the latest on Auburn Women's Tennis, follow @AuburnWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
#25 Auburn 4, Central Arkansas 3
Singles
1. #61 Jaeda Daniel (AU) def. Fuka Nonoyama (UCA), 6-1, 6-0
2. #114 Mei Ishimura (UCA) def. Sophia Graver (AU), 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5)
3. Madeline Meredith (AU) def. QiLi Ma (UCA), 6-1, 6-1
4. Marli Van Heerden (UCA) def. Taylor Russo (AU), 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)
5. Yada Vasupongchai (UCA) def. Alannah Griffin (AU), 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8)
6. Yu Chen (AU) def. Rada Manataweewat (UCA), 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 3, 6, 2, 4, 5
Doubles
1. #14 Graver/Russo (AU) def. Van Heerden/Nonoyama (UCA), 6-1
2. Daniel/Meredith (AU) def. Ishimura/Vasupongchai (UCA), 6-0
3. Ma/Manataweewat (UCA) def. Chen/Griffin (AU), 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Time: 2:33
Match played indoors
#25 Auburn 4, Mercer 0
Singles
1. Sophia Graver (AU) vs. Katie Sidor (MER), 2-6, 3-2 unfinished
2. Madeline Meredith (AU) vs. Celine Schepers (MER), 6-6 unfinished
3. Taylor Russo (AU) def. Alara Hollyfield (MER), 6-1, 6-1
4. Yu Chen (AU) def. Maeva Roquebert (MER), 6-3, 6-2
5. Caroline Turner (AU) def. Anna Sovic (MER), 6-1, 3-0 ret. inj.
6. Lindsay Song (AU) vs. Christie Cesarini (MER), 6-4, 3-1 unfinished
Order of finish: 5, 3, 4
Doubles
1. Meredith/Daniel (AU) vs. Sidor/Schepers (MER), 5-5 unfinished
2. #14 Graver/Russo (AU) def. Cesarini/Sovic (MER), 6-1
3. Chen/Song (AU) def. Hollyfield/Roquebert (MER), 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3
Time: 1:49
Match played indoors
No. 25 women's tennis tops UCA, Mercer to stay unbeaten
