SUPER REGIONAL BOUND: No. 1 women’s tennis defeats Miami 4-0 to claim NCAA Auburn Regional

Box Score
Two athletes embrace on a tennis court, one wearing an orange cap with "Tigers" branding, against a backdrop of a blue court and "AUBURN" signage.Two athletes embrace on a tennis court, one wearing an orange cap with "Tigers" branding, against a backdrop of a blue court and "AUBURN" signage.
Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – For the sixth time in program history and for the second consecutive season, Auburn women’s tennis has punched its ticket to the NCAA Super Regional. The No. 1 Tigers shut out Miami 4-0 in the NCAA round of 32 on Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of over 400 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Auburn will host the super regional next weekend.

“It was an amazing atmosphere today,” Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo said after the match. “The Auburn Family showed up and made a really big difference for us, especially in the doubles. Miami is a really good team, and they’re under-ranked. They had North Carolina on the ropes earlier in the year, and they’re one of the best teams in the country. Paige (Yaroshuk-Tews) is a legendary coach, and that was a really tough draw that we were given.

“We had our best doubles point of the year. Everyone was aggressive and going after their shots. For us to win five first sets in singles was a really good thing, and it was a very impressive day for everyone. Merna (Refaat) was out there fighting and building a lead in the second set, which was huge for us. DJ (Bennett) played a girl who has only lost twice all year, and she was in a commanding position. I really think the difference for us was that we had an amazing crowd, and we’ll need that again next weekend.”

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The Tigers started strong during the doubles point, dominating on all three courts. Auburn’s Ekaterina Khairutdinova and Ashton Bowers opened their match at the No. 3 position by winning each of the first four games before closing out a 6-1 victory. On the top doubles court, Miami’s Raquel Gonzalez and Dominika Podhajecka won the first game against Auburn’s Ava Esposito and DJ Bennett, but the Auburn duo claimed six consecutive games, including a break on a deciding point in the final game, to clinch the doubles point for the Tigers.

Auburn kept the momentum going in singles, where it claimed the opening set in five of the six matches.

Okutoyi fell behind a break early in the first set to Miami’s Sebastianna Scilipoti before winning a break on a deciding point to tie the set at 3-3. The Auburn senior then won the next three games to close out a 6-3 set win. Okutoyi stayed hot in the second set, winning the first five games over Scilipoti before closing out the match 6-3, 6-2. The win improved Okutoyi’s dual-match singles record to 19-2 and gave Auburn a 2-0 lead.

Bowers looked dominant early in her match against Miami’s Jaquelyn Ogunwale, winning two straight breaks to build a 4-0 lead. Ogunwale responded by winning the next two games before Bowers closed out the set with a couple of games to win 6-2. The Auburn sophomore opened another early lead in the second set, taking a 4-0 advantage. Ogunwale won the next two games on deciding points before Bowers held serve on a deciding point and broke to 15 in the final game to win the match 6-2, 6-2.

Bowers had a perfect weekend for the Tigers, winning both of her doubles and singles matches on Friday and Saturday. Her 62 overall combined victories in 2025-26 are the most in program history for a single season.

At the No. 2 position, Khairutdinova and Miami’s Sofia Rocchetti went back and forth during the first set. With the set tied 3-3, the Auburn senior won a break on a deciding point, then won the next two games to take the set 6-3. In the second set, Rocchetti took a 4-3 lead before Khairutdinova broke to 30 to tie the set 4-4. She then held serve and broke to love in the final game to claim the match in straight sets, clinching the team victory and beginning the celebration on court two.

Auburn will host the NCAA round of 16 for the first time in program history next weekend at a date and time to be determined. The Tigers’ eighth consecutive victory improved their record to 34-3 overall this season and maintained the team’s perfect home record at 21-0.

Auburn will face the winner of Saturday afternoon’s match between No. 15 Duke and No. 19 Tennessee in the super regional at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Attendance at the match will be free for fans, and additional fan information is available at AuburnTigers.com/MatchDay.

 

#1 Auburn 4, #29 Miami 0

Singles Results:

  1. #16 DJ Bennett (AUB) vs. #38 Raquel Gonzalez (UM) 6-3, 4-3, unfinished
  2. #31 E. Khairutdinova (AUB) def. #67 Sofia Rocchetti (UM) 6-3, 6-4
  3. #55 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) def. Sebastianna Scilipoti (UM) 6-3, 6-2
  4. Merna Refaat (AUB) vs. #114 Jaquelyn Ogunwale (UM) 5-7, 3-2, unfinished
  5. #58 Ashton Bowers (AUB) def. #115 Dominika Podhajecka (UM) 6-2, 6-2
  6. #68 Ava Esposito (AUB) vs. Daria Volosova (UM) 6-4, 3-6, unfinished

Doubles Results:

  1. #2 DJ Bennett/Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Raquel Gonzalez/Dominika Podhajecka (UM) 6-1
  2. #8 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) vs. Sofia Rocchetti/Sebastianna Scilipoti (UM) 5-2, unfinished
  3. Ashton Bowers/E. Khairutdinova (AUB) def. Jaquelyn Ogunwale/Maria Vargas (UM) 6-1

 

Time of match: 2:03 Order of finish: Doubles: 3,1; Singles: 3,5,2 Official: Donna Jerome