AUBURN, Ala. – Postseason play begins for the 21st-ranked Auburn women's tennis team Tuesday evening when the Tigers face No. 30 Arkansas in the second round of the 2021 SEC Tournament.
Match time is set for 6 p.m. CT at the Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Links to live scoring and live video are available on the schedule page at AuburnTigers.com.
The Tigers (12-7) earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament by winning a three-way tiebreaker with South Carolina and Ole Miss, all of whom finished the SEC season at 7-6 in league play. Auburn's historic win over Florida on Feb. 21 – which won Monday night's AUSPY for the school year's "War Eagle Moment" – was the catalyst that pushed the Tigers ahead of the Gamecocks and Rebels.
Auburn enters the tournament with three ranked singles players in No. 68 Selin Ovunc, No. 70 Carolyn Ansari and No. 116 Yu Chen. The Tigers also have two ranked doubles teams with No. 10 Ovunc and Taylor Russo, and No. 78 Georgie Axon and Adeline Flach.
The Tigers will take on 11th-seeded Arkansas (11-9), who earned their way into the second round with a 4-3 win over Missouri in the second of two first-round matches Monday night. The Razorbacks are led by 35th-ranked Indianna Spink in singles and the 72nd-ranked team of Morgan Cross and Tatum Rice in doubles.
In the regular season meeting between the teams on March 26 in Fayetteville, the Tigers overcame dropping the doubles point to claim a 4-2 road victory. Auburn fell behind 2-0 that day but got singles wins from Chen, Axon, and Anastasia Astakhova to take a 3-2 lead. Flach clinched the win with a victory at the No. 5 spot.
"I loved our composure," Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley said after the Tigers' win in Fayetteville. "Arkansas played some great tennis down in sets and we never wavered from the process. No match is ever perfect, never will be, but how we respond to challenges is a testament to the intangibles this team brings on a daily basis."
Auburn seeks its first SEC Tournament win since 2017 when the Tigers picked up victories over Arkansas and Georgia en route to the tournament semifinals, the best showing for Auburn at the tournament. The winner of Tuesday's match will face third-seeded Texas A&M in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
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No. 21 Auburn opens SEC Tournament with Arkansas
