SEATTLE – No. 14 Auburn wrapped up its time at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle with a win on Sunday, upsetting No. 8 Florida by a 4-0 final score. The win marks just the third time the Tigers have defeated the Gators in program history and the third time in the last four meetings. The win is also Auburn's fourth win over a top-10 opponent in the last three seasons.
"The team played hard and competed really well today," Auburn interim head coach Lester Cook said after the match. "The doubles point was huge and really helped us get momentum in singles. The match could have gone either way, but we played the big points well and had great energy."
The Tigers began the doubles point strong, as Auburn's top doubles team of Ariana Arseneault and Angella Okutoyi came back from a 3-2 deficit to defeat Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee 6-4. The win is the pair's third dual match doubles win of the season.
Moments later, Florida won on court three, forcing DJ Bennett and Adeline Flach to win court two to claim the doubles point. Down 4-3, the Auburn duo won back-to-back games to take a 5-4 match lead. The match eventually entered a tiebreaker that Bennett and Flach dominated 7-1 to earn the doubles point.
Doubles point ➡️ AU
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) February 11, 2024
DJ Bennett & Adeline Flach claim the tiebreaker and the doubles point for Auburn 💪
📺 https://t.co/lHpv1Dialy
📊 https://t.co/Nao2LoYbrE pic.twitter.com/CpYrZv1U21
Auburn's success continued in singles, where the team claimed opening set wins on four of six courts at the Seattle Tennis Club. No. 13 Carolyn Ansari trailed 4-3 in her opening set against No. 67 Carly Briggs before coming back to win it 6-4. Arseneault, who is ranked 61st by the ITA in singles, bounced back on court two from dropping the first three games of the opening set to 70th ranked Rachel Gailis to force a tiebreaker. Arseneault then won the long tiebreaker 11-9. Bennett and Okutoyi also picked up first set wins in their respective matches.
After winning the first set and the initial three games of the second set, Bennett cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Alicia Dudeney on court four to give Auburn its first singles win of the match and extend the lead to 2-0. Bennett's victory gives her 15 singles wins this season and five singles wins in dual matches.
After Bennett's win, Ansari followed with a straight set victory of her own on court one by a 6-4, 6-2 score. The fifth-year senior's fourth consecutive singles win marks her ninth singles victory over a ranked opponent this season.
With Auburn only needing one more singles victory to clinch a team win, Angella Okutoyi earned her second singles win in as many days on court three, defeating 44th ranked Emily de Oliveria 6-3, 6-3 for her fourth dual match singles victory of the season and the highest ranked singles win of her Auburn career.
The win improves Auburn's record to 5-3 while Florida's record drops to 4-4. Up next, the Tigers will travel to play 10th ranked Texas on Feb. 18. The match is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT and will be televised on the Longhorn Network.
#14 Auburn 4, #8 Florida 0
Singles Results:
1. #13 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) def. #67 Carly Briggs (UF) 6-4, 6-2
2. #61 Ariana Arseneault (AUB) vs. #70 Rachel Gailis (UF) 7-6 (9), 1-1, unfinished
3. Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. #44 Emily de Oliveira (UF) 6-3, 6-3
4. #43 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. Alicia Dudeney (UF) 6-3, 6-1
5. #104 Selin Ovunc (AUB) vs. Qavia Lopez (UF) 3-6, 3-5, unfinished
6. Adeline Flach (AUB) vs. Malwina Rowinska (UF) 3-6, 4-4, unfinished
Doubles Results:
1. Ariana Arseneault/Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) 6-4
2. DJ Bennett/Adeline Flach (AUB) def. Malwina Rowinska/Qavia Lopez (UF) 7-6 (7-1)
3. Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis (UF) def. Selin Ovunc/Carolyn Ansari (AUB) 6-4
Time of match: 2:27; Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3,2 Singles: 4,1,3