No. 8 Women’s tennis falls to No. 10 Oklahoma 4-3

Box Score
No. 8 Women’s tennis falls to No. 10 Oklahoma 4-3No. 8 Women’s tennis falls to No. 10 Oklahoma 4-3
Grayson Belanger/Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 8 Auburn was outlasted by No. 10 Oklahoma in a home match on Friday afternoon by a 4-3 final score. After dropping the doubles point, the Tigers fought back with three straight set singles wins to tie the match at three but fell short in a three-set match at the No. 4 singles position.

“Really disappointing loss and the doubles was unacceptable,” said Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo. “We fought hard, but that’s what we’re meant to do. We’re meant to compete out there and we need to be ready to go at the start of singles and the start of doubles. We need six people competing at all lines and we’re really struggling finding that consistently.”

In doubles, Oklahoma took the early advantage with a 6-2 win at the No. 3 position, but Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat responded with a 6-3 win at the No. 2 position. With the match tied at three on the top doubles court, Oklahoma’s Julia Garcia Ruiz and Alina Shcherbinina won a break on a deciding point and held serve the remainder of the match to win 6-4 and clinch the doubles point for the Sooners.

Auburn bounced back in singles, winning the first set on four courts. Sophomore Ava Esposito was the first to finish on court five, as she took down Ava Catanzarite. Esposito won each of the first four games of the first set before claiming it 6-2. Trailing the second set 5-4, Esposito won a critical deciding point to earn a break and tie the match, leading to a tiebreaker. The Auburn sophomore then dominated the tiebreaker 7-0 to win the match and tie the team score at one.

Oklahoma responded with a straight set win on court six before Auburn’s DJ Bennett tied the score again with a win on the top singles court. Bennett defeated No. 26 Alina Shcherbinina 7-5, 6-2 for her 24th overall singles victory of the season that improved her dual match record to 12-3. The victory also marked her 13th over a ranked opponent this season.

The first set at the No. 3 singles position between Ava Hrastar and No. 103 Salakthip Ounmuang went back-and-forth until Hrastar picked up a late break to take a 6-5 lead. Hrastar then held to love to win the opening set and took that momentum into the next. Trailing the second set 2-1, Hrastar won five consecutive games to defeat Ounmuang 7-5, 6-2.

Oklahoma’s Julia Garcia Ruiz then defeated Okutoyi on court two, which tied the team score at three. The match was decided at the No. 4 singles position between Refaat and No. 70 Emma Staker.

Refaat claimed the first set in a tiebreaker before Staker responded with a 6-1 win in the second set. Staker continued her momentum in the third set by winning each of the first five games. Refaat fought back with a couple of game wins, but ultimately fell 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-2.

The loss drops Auburn’s record to 17-5 overall and 6-4 in the conference this season.

Up next, the Tigers will travel to Fayetteville to face Arkansas on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

 

#10 Oklahoma 4, #8 Auburn 3

Singles Results:

  1. #4 DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #26 Alina Shcherbinina (OU) 7-5, 6-2
  2. #19 Julia Garcia Ruiz (OU) def. #62 Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 6-4, 6-4
  3. Ava Hrastar (AUB) def. #103 Salakthip Ounmuang (OU) 7-5, 6-2
  4. #70 Emma Staker (OU) def. #36 Merna Refaat (AUB) 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-2
  5. Ava Esposito (AUB) def. Ava Catanzarite (OU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-0)
  6. Gloriana Nahum (OU) def. Alice Battesti (AUB) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles Results:

  1. Julia Garcia Ruiz/Alina Shcherbinina (OU) def. #16 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) 6-4
  2. Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat (AUB) def. Chloe Noel/Salakthip Ounmuang (OU) 6-3
  3. Ava Catanzarite/Gloriana Nahum (OU) def. Ava Esposito/Maria Garcia (AUB) 6-2

 

Time of match: 3:22; Order of finish: Doubles: 3,2,1; Singles: 5,6,1,3,2,4; Official: Donna Jerome