AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn women’s tennis coaches and student-athletes earned five regional honors, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Tuesday. Head coach Jordan Szabo was named the ITA Southern Region Coach of the Year, and Valeriya Zeleva was tabbed Southern Region Assistant Coach of the Year. DJ Bennett, Angella Okutoyi and Ava Hrastar also earned individual honors.
Part of the best staff in the South 🎾
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) June 10, 2025
Jordan Szabo and Valeriya Zeleva have been named the @ITA_Tennis Southern Region Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/g2iza7L7FQ
In his first season at the helm, Szabo led the Tigers to a historic 25-7 overall record and an 11-4 mark in SEC play. Auburn’s 25 wins tied the most in a single season in program history. The Tigers also recorded five victories over opponents ranked inside the ITA top 10—the most in school history. The team reached the NCAA Super Regionals for the fifth time in program history and advanced to the SEC Championship semifinals for just the third time. On Feb. 20, Auburn matched its highest-ever ITA national team ranking at No. 4 and later achieved its highest end-of-season ranking at No. 8.
Zeleva earned her first ITA coaching honor and second overall ITA recognition, having previously been named the 2019 ITA Southeast Region Player to Watch while at UCF. This marks the sixth time an Auburn assistant coach has received the ITA Southern Region Assistant Coach of the Year award.
The regional honors are pouring in from @ITA_Tennis 🏆🏆🏆#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/2soaQLWsie
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) June 10, 2025
Bennett was named the ITA Southern Region Most Improved Player after a standout season. The junior earned first-team All-SEC honors and posted a 27-10 overall singles record, including a 15-6 mark in dual matches, primarily at the top of Auburn’s lineup. She notched 15 victories over ranked opponents, including No. 2 Mary Stoiana of Texas A&M, No. 8 Valerie Glozman of Stanford and No. 11 Celia-Belle Mohr of Vanderbilt. In November, she became just the second Auburn player to reach the finals of the NCAA Singles Championship and earned ITA Singles All-American honors and ITA Doubles All-American honors.
Okutoyi was named the region’s Player to Watch following a breakout 2024-25 season. She compiled a 27-5 overall singles record and went 20-3 in dual matches, primarily in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Okutoyi also earned her first NCAA Singles Championship bid and reached a career-high ITA singles ranking of No. 47 on April 8.
In her final season of eligibility, graduate student Ava Hrastar was named the ITA Southern Region Senior Player of the Year. Hrastar made program history as part of the second Auburn doubles team to reach the NCAA Doubles Championship semifinals, alongside Bennett, earning her ITA Doubles All-American honors for the second time in her career. The Duluth, Georgia, native finished with a 25-12 overall singles record and a 14-7 mark in dual matches, competing at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. Hrastar becomes the third consecutive Tiger to earn the region’s Senior Player of the Year honor, following Carolyn Ansari in 2023 and Ariana Arseneault in 2024.