AUBURN, Ala. – The 37th-ranked Auburn women's tennis team will face its toughest challenge of the non-conference schedule this weekend as the Tigers compete in the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic, scheduled to run Friday and Saturday in Montgomery.
Auburn will face No. 13 Oklahoma State in the first round of the tournament at 12:30 p.m. CT Friday at Lagoon Park. The winner of that match is slated to face the winner of Texas Tech and Fresno State; start time for that match is yet to be determined.
The Tigers (11-1), ranked No. 37 in this week's ITA rankings, are looking to close out an unbeaten month of February. Auburn remained unbeaten at home so far this year with a pair of shutout wins last weekend over Samford and Georgia State.
"Every single team that we play is going to be tough," Auburn head coach Lauren Spencer said. "It's a great opportunity for us to get some ranked wins and some wins against teams from bigger conferences. This tournament always gives us a lot of preparation for the SEC season. And it's a lot of fun. We've got such a great home crowd in Montgomery, so we really enjoy going."
Auburn won the Blue-Gray Classic in 2017, defeating Texas Tech for the title. Last year, the Tigers went 2-1 at the tournament with wins over Denver and Alabama. This year's field consists of Auburn, Alabama, No. 13 Oklahoma State, No. 22 Illinois, No. 33 Wake Forest, No. 35 Texas Tech, Fresno State and Yale.
"We have played exceptionally well in this tournament," Spencer said. "Our goal is to have an all-win February, and for us to be able to win the Blue-Gray would give us that. The matches we've played so far have given us adversity, confidence, and a lot of opportunity to improve our game. This tournament gives us a good opportunity to not only get the tough matches in, but also to get confidence going into SEC play."
In the latest ITA rankings, Auburn sophomore Jaeda Daniel comes in at No. 75 in singles; she owns a 6-1 record at the No. 1 singles spot so far in dual match play. In doubles, the team of junior Taylor Russo and freshman Sophia Graver is ranked No. 43 nationally with a record of 7-2 in the spring season.
Live scoring and tournament draws are available at BlueGrayTennis.com. Fans can also follow @AuburnWTennis on Twitter for updates throughout the weekend.
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