No. 8 Auburn shuts out Missouri 4-0 at home

Box Score
No. 8 Auburn shuts out Missouri 4-0 at homeNo. 8 Auburn shuts out Missouri 4-0 at home
Noelle Iglesias/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 8 Women’s tennis looked dominant in its 4-0 shutout over Missouri on Sunday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. After claiming the doubles point, Auburn picked up straight set wins at the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions for the victory.

“It was really good weekend for us,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “Anytime you win 4-0 in the SEC, especially on a Sunday, is really nice. We had tricky conditions out there, winds were quite swirly, but I thought we did well adjusting in the doubles with the new pairing of Alice (Battesti) and Maria (Garcia). Honestly, we were in control on all three courts, which was nice after losing the doubles point on Friday night.

“In singles, we were challenged on some courts. We have some things we definitely need to get better in, but we were able to build some big leads on some courts, capitalize and take our chances pretty quickly. I'm very happy for Maria to get the opportunity to play some singles and for Alice to play some doubles. Looking forward to having a great week of practice and getting ready for Oklahoma.”

In doubles, Alice Battesti and Maria Garcia played together for the first time at the No. 3 position. The freshman duo won each game in the match against Lailaa Bashir and Zoe Lazar, including a break to love followed by a hold to love in the final two games. After allowing a game to start the match, Auburn’s Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat dominated by winning the next six consecutive games to clinch the doubles point with a 6-1 victory.

The Tigers continued their momentum into singles play, winning the opening set on four of the six courts. Garcia was the match to finish, as she earned her first SEC singles victory of the season over Korina Roso by a 6-4, 6-0 score.

An early break helped Auburn’s DJ Bennett jump out to an early 3-1 lead in the first set over Mary Brumfield on the top singles court before winning it 6-1. Bennett continued to play well in the second set, winning each of the first three games before ultimately taking the match by a 6-1, 6-1 score.

Moments later, Alice Battesti picked up her second singles win of the weekend with a straight set win over Sarah Hartel  at the No. 6 singles position. The Auburn freshman won 6-1, 6-3 for her 13th overall singles win of the season and her fourth in SEC play.

Shortly after Battesti’s win, the match was clinched by Garcia on court five. The Auburn freshman and Gian Octa went back-and-forth during the first set until Garcia won a break with the score tied at four. She went on to hold in the next game to win the set, then caught fire in the second set and did not allow a game to win 6-4, 6-0.

The win improved Auburn’s record to 17-4 overall and 6-3 in conference play this season. The victory also marked the fifth consecutive for the Tigers.

Up next, Auburn will host No. 12 Oklahoma on Friday at 11 a.m. CT on Staff Appreciation Day. Attendance to the match at the Yarbrough Tennis Center will be free while live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.

 

#8 Auburn 4, Missouri 0

Singles Results:

  1. #4 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. Mary Brumfield (MIZ) 6-1, 6-1
  2. #62 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) vs. Inah Canete (MIZ) 6-0, 1-5, unfinished
  3. Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. Lailaa Bashir (MIZ) 3-6, 1-1, unfinished
  4. #36 Merna Refaat (AUB) vs. Korina Roso (MIZ) 3-6, 4-1, unfinished
  5. Maria Garcia (AUB) def. Gian Octa (MIZ) 6-4, 6-0
  6. Alice Battesti (AUB) def. Sarah Hartel (MIZ) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles Results:

  1. #16 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. Mary Brumfield/Korina Roso (MIZ) 4-2, unfinished
  2. Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Andrea Artimedi/Inah Canete (MIZ) 6-1
  3. Alice Battesti/Maria Garcia (AUB) def. Lailaa Bashir/Zoe Lazar (MIZ) 6-0

 

Time of match: 1:55; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2; Singles: 1,6,5; Official: Donna Jerome