No. 11 Auburn takes down No. 9 Texas at home

Box Score
No. 11 Auburn takes down No. 9 Texas at homeNo. 11 Auburn takes down No. 9 Texas at home
David Gray/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 11 Women’s tennis recorded its fourth win over a top 10 team this season on Sunday afternoon, defeating ninth-ranked Texas by a 4-3 score at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Sunday’s match marked just the fourth time the two programs had faced each other and the first win for Auburn in the short all-time series.

“In the context of our season and for the history of the program, it's a big win,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said after the win. “Texas is one of the best teams in the country. They get a lot of the best players in the country to play there, and for us to win that match is a big deal. We've been on a little bit of a losing skid and every match is so tough because we're playing only the best teams. It's nice to get out of that one.

“We had a heartbreaker on Friday night and that was a tough one to stomach, but I told the girls it's only a point or two, and we need six girls out there battling. And we had six girls out there battling today. We won our fair share and we lost our fair share, but when we battle on all six courts, making it competitive and giving ourselves a chance, good things are going to happen more often than not.”

For the second consecutive weekend, Auburn started the match with a doubles point win. Ava Esposito and Maria Garcia took a back-and-forth match on court three by finishing a 6-4 victory by winning two straight games. Auburn’s Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Ashton Bowers and Vivian Ovrootsky and eventually won by a 6-4 score to clinch the doubles point for Auburn. The win improved the Auburn duo’s record to 11-3 overall this season and 7-2 in dual matches.

With the first set tied at one on the top singles court, DJ Bennett won the next three straight games to take a 4-1 lead before No. 38 Sabina Zeynalova responded by tying the set at four. Bennett then won each of the next two games to win the set 6-4. The two traded games throughout the second set until the match was tied at five. Bennett won each of the next two games, including a break in the final game, to win the match 6-4, 7-5. The win marked Bennett’s 11th singles victory over a ranked opponent and her seventh dual match victory this season.

Just moments later, Auburn sophomore Ava Esposito finished a straight set win of her own on court five. Esposito and Vivian Ovrootsky’s first set entered a lengthy tiebreaker that Esposito eventually prevailed in 11-9. The sophomore then took that momentum into a second set by winning it 6-3 to give Auburn a 3-0 advantage.

All four remaining matches were forced into a third set with the score 3-0 with Auburn searching for just one more victory to clinch the team win.

Texas’ Salma Drugdova started strong in her match against Auburn’s Alice Battesti at the No. 6 singles position, winning each of the first three games of the opening set. Battesti battled back late in the set but dropped it 7-5. The Auburn freshman rebounded in the second set, allowing just one game to force a third set. Battesti caught fire early in the third set by taking a 4-1 lead, but Drugdova later tied the match at four. Battesti then won each of the next two games to love to claim the singles win and clinch the team victory for the Tigers.

After the team win was decided, Texas claimed a victory at the No. 2 position. Both Angella Okutoyi on court three and Merna Refaat on court four forced third set tiebreakers in their respective singles matches. Okutoyi fell to No. 69 Eszter Mer in her tiebreaker 9-7 while Refaat dropped her tiebreaker to No. 30 Carmen Herea 7-4.

The win marks the fourth win that Auburn has posted this season over a top 10 opponent, with the other wins being against No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Stanford and No. 8 North Carolina. The victory improves the Tigers’ record to 13-4 overall this season and 2-3 in Southeastern Conference play.

“I'm proud of the girls for bouncing back and hopefully you can give us some momentum because we got a huge match on Friday night at Alabama,” continued Szabo. “I haven't been here long, but I understand the significance of that rivalry. They're going to be ready to play us and we need to be ready to raise the bar again in these rivalry matches.”

Auburn will face rival Alabama on Friday night at 5 p.m. CT at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

 

#11 Auburn 4, #9 Texas 3

Singles Results:

  1. #4 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #38 Sabina Zeynalova (TEXAS) 6-4, 7-5
  2. #70 Ashton Bowers (TEXAS) def. #99 Ava Hrastar (AUB) 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
  3. #69 Eszter Meri (TEXAS) def. #71 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7)
  4. #30 Carmen Herea (TEXAS) def. #28 Merna Refaat (AUB) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4)
  5. Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) 7-6 (11-9), 6-3
  6. Alice Battesti (AUB) def. Salma Drugdova (TEXAS) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4

Doubles Results:

  1. #18 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. Char Kempenaers-Pocz/Sabina Zeynalova (TEXAS) 5-4, unfinished
  2. Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Ashton Bowers/Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) 6-4
  3. Ava Esposito/Maria Garcia (AUB) def. Carmen Herea/Salma Drugdova (TEXAS) 6-4

 

Time of match: 3:39; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2; Singles: 1,5,6,2,3,4; Official: Donna Jerome