No. 8 Auburn dominates No. 11 LSU on Senior Day

Box Score SEC Championship Bracket
No. 8 Auburn dominates No. 11 LSU on Senior DayNo. 8 Auburn dominates No. 11 LSU on Senior Day
David Gray/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 8 Women’s tennis earned a shutout over No. 11 LSU to conclude the regular season at the Yarbrough Tennis Center on Sunday in Auburn, Alabama. After taking the doubles point, the Tigers won in straight sets on three courts to win convincingly on Senior Day.

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“I thought we did a really good job in the doubles,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said after the win. “We practiced a lot of doubles stuff yesterday, and we really put it together on all three courts. I thought we came out play really well in the doubles and it continued in the singles. I think they were down a girl in the singles, but LSU is a great, well-coached team so them having a player out of their lineup hurts but you're still going to go and beat who you can play.

“I thought we did a really good job of building leads early, putting them under pressure and then finding ways to fight back in the courts when we were down. A big win for us on senior day with beautiful weather and to get to 11 SEC wins is a big deal.”

Auburn’s Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat improved their doubles record to 18-4 this season with a 6-2 victory at the No. 2 doubles position. The Tiger duo of Ava Esposito and Maria Garcia picked up an early break that gave them a 4-2 lead over Tilwith Di Girolami/Gaby Rivera. Esposito and Garicia then continued their momentum by winning the next two games to defeat the 35th ranked doubles team in the nation 6-2 and claim the doubles point for the Tigers. The win marks Esposito and Garcia’s first win over a ranked opponent as a doubles pair.

Auburn wasted no time in the first set of singles, winning the opening set 6-1 on three courts and 6-0 on another.

Auburn freshman Alice Battesti looked dominant at the No. 6 singles position, as she defeated Indi Patel 6-0, 6-1. At one point in the match, Battesti won 11 consecutive games over Patel in the one-sided affair.

The Tigers improved their lead to 3-0 with another straight set win on court two. Okutoyi won her first set 6-1 over Tilwith Di Girolami and kept her momentum in the second set. Leading 2-1, she earned two breaks to take a 4-1 lead and ultimately won the match 6-1, 6-3 for her fourth consecutive singles victory. The Auburn junior is now 25-4 in singles overall this season and 20-2 in dual matches.

At the No. 4 singles position, Refaat set the tone early by winning each of the first five games in the opening set against Kinaa Graham before winning it 6-1. Refaat took a 4-1 lead in the second set, but Graham battled back to close the gap to 4-3. The Auburn freshman then won the next two games, including a deciding point winner in a return game to finish off the match 6-1, 6-3 that clinched the team victory for the Tigers.

With its fifth consecutive win, Auburn finishes the regular season 22-5 and 11-4 in SEC play. 2025 marks the second time in program history that Auburn has reached 11 conference wins, with the other being 2022 when the Tigers went 11-2 in the league.

Up next, Auburn will await to find out its seeding in the SEC Championship, which will be played Wednesday through Sunday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Admission to the 2025 SEC Women’s Tennis Championship will be free.

 

#8 Auburn 4, #11 LSU 0 

Singles Results:

  1. #5 DJ Bennett (AUB) vs. #21 Cadence Brace (LSU) 7-5, 0-0, unfinished
  2. #47 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Tilwith Di Girolami (LSU) 6-1, 6-3
  3. #92 Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) 5-7, 0-1, unfinished
  4. #59 Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Kinaa Graham (LSU) 6-1, 6-3
  5. Ava Esposito (AUB) vs. Kenna Erickson (LSU) 6-1, 3-4, unfinished
  6. Alice Battesti (AUB) def. Indi Patel (LSU) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles Results:

  1. #20 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) vs. #4 Cadence Brace/Kinaa Graham (LSU) 5-2, unfinished
  2. #50 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. #71 Kenna Erickson/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) 6-2
  3. Ava Esposito/Maria Garcia (AUB) def. #35 Tilwith Di Girolami/Gaby Rivera (LSU) 6-2

 

Time of match: 1:55; Order of finish: Doubles: 2,3; Singles: 6,2,4; Official: Donna Jerome