AUBURN, Ala. – Two big matches are on the horizon for Auburn women's tennis this weekend as the 25th-ranked Tigers will compete in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Friday and Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
Auburn (2-0) will take on Arizona State in the opening match at approximately noon CT Friday, then face either No. 10 UCF or UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. The matches will be played at the USTA National Campus.
"We definitely expect them to be tough, and deep as well," Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley said of Arizona State. "They have a lot of international players that were really successful on the world tour. It's always nice to play a different team, a good team that's incredibly well-coached.
"We've shown this year and last year that we're one of the most resilient teams in the country, and when our back is against the wall, we're not going to capitulate or give in. And I think we're going to earn opportunities this weekend to continue to grow, develop and compete with some really good teams."
The Tigers earned two wins to open the dual match season Sunday, defeating a tough Furman side 4-3 and sweeping UAB 7-0 at home. Carolyn Ansari, Yu Chen and Georgie Axon all went 2-0 in singles on the day, and the Tigers won all four doubles matches played to completion.
"Really proud of the girls," Lilley said. "We had intended to switch up our lineup a little bit and give everyone an opportunity to play singles, but we ended up not being able to do that. So we had some kids play a lot of tennis. UAB and Furman are both really good programs, so a great doubleheader and a great way to start our season. I thought we played some really terrific doubles across the board. And I liked the way we responded to some losses to Furman, but overall team victories are always something to be celebrated."
Arizona State (3-0) opened its season with wins over Northern Arizona, Colorado State and New Mexico State last weekend. This will be the second meeting between Auburn and ASU, the first in the regular season. The teams' only previous meeting was in the 2016 NCAA Tournament Round of 32, a 4-2 Auburn win to send the Tigers to the NCAA Championships.
UCF (1-0) defeated Penn 4-3 to open its season last weekend. The Knights boast three ranked singles players – No. 37 Evgeniya Levashova, No. 64 Valeriya Zeleva, and No. 102 Marie Mattel. UCF also has a pair of ranked doubles teams in No. 50 Levashova/Zaleva and No. 55 Mattel/Nandini Sharma. Auburn is 2-0 all-time against UCF, but the teams have not met since 2005.
UC Santa Barbara (1-1) split two matches last week, falling to Cal 6-1 and defeating Saint Mary's 4-0. Auburn and UCSB have met twice previously; the Tigers and Gauchos split two meetings in 1982 and 1991.
The winner of the four-team event will qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which are set for Feb. 11-14 in Madison, Wis.
Live scoring and live video will be available for both matches; links are available on the schedule page at AuburnTigers.com and also at ustanationalcampus.com.
Women's tennis ready for Arizona State in ITA Kick-Off
