ATHENS, Ga. – No. 6 Auburn lost its first SEC road match of the season on Friday to No. 2 Georgia by a 5-2 score at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia. The Bulldogs are now responsible for both of the Tigers’ losses this season, as they also won the matchup at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship earlier in the month.
“Really disappointing performance tonight,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “You get what you deserve in this sport with how you prepare, and we got what we deserved tonight. Need to bounce back quickly on Sunday.”
Georgia set the tone early with a dominating doubles point, winning on court one and court three. Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat were leading their match against No. 65 Guillermina Grant and Anastasiia Lopata when it was abandoned.
In singles, the Bulldogs picked up two quick straight set victories from Sofia Rojas at the No. 6 position and Grant at the No. 5 singles position to get within one singles win of a team victory.
A second rematch of the 2024-25 NCAA Singles Championship finals took place at the No. 1 singles position between No. 1 Dasha Vidmanova of Georgia and No. 2 DJ Bennett of Auburn. Vidmanova jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set before claiming it 6-3. Leading 3-2 in the second set, Vidmanova won the next three games to clinch the singles win as well as the team victory for the Bulldogs.
After the win was decided, Georgia earned another straight set win on court four. Auburn junior Angella Okutoyi extended her dual match singles winning streak to 11 matches with another win to remain undefeated this spring. After dropping the first set to Mell Reasco, Okutoyi won the second set in a tiebreaker and went on to win the match 3-6, 7-6 (4), [10-5] to give Auburn its first point.
Ava Hrastar and No. 39 Anastasiia Lopata split sets in their match at the No. 2 singles position to force a winner-take-all 10-point tiebreaker. Hrastar won the tiebreaker 10-6 to complete the upset and earn her fifth dual match singles win of the season.
The loss drops Auburn’s record to 12-2 this season and 1-1 in conference play. The Tigers will stay on the road to face South Carolina on Sunday in Columbia at noon CT. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at GamecocksOnline.com.
#2 Georgia 5, #6 Auburn 2
Singles Results:
- #1 Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) def. #2 DJ Bennett (AUB) 6-3, 6-2
- Ava Hrastar (AUB) def. #39 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
- #57 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Mell Reasco (UGA) 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-5)
- #56 Aysegul Mert (UGA) def. #17 Merna Refaat (AUB) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
- #66 Guillermina Grant (UGA) def. #116 Ava Esposito (AUB) 6-4, 6-1
- Sofia Rojas (UGA) def. Alice Battesti (AUB) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles Results:
- #25 Dasha Vidmanova/Mell Reasco (UGA) def. #20 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) 6-0
- #65 Guillermina Grant/Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) vs. #69 Merna Refaat/Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 3-5, unfinished
- #81 Aysegul Mert/Hayden Mulberry (UGA) def. Maria Garcia/Ava Esposito (AUB) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3; Singles: 6,5,1,4,3,2