Oct. 21, 2011
BIRMINGHAM - Freshman Jen Pfeifler continued to impress on the courts with a pair of singles wins and a doubles victory with partner Jacqueline Kasler on Friday in opening day action in the USTA/ITA Southern Regional hosted by Samford University.
Pfeifler battled back in the first round to down her opponent, Roselie Dion (Mississippi State), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 after dropping the first set. The Gulf Breeze, Fla.-native followed up her opening round victory with a dominating 6-1, 6-0 win over UAB's Paula Alvarez Pino to advance to the quarterfinals.
Next, the freshman teamed with long-time partner Jacqueline Kasler to knock off Ole Miss' Iris Verboven and Paige Keating in dominant fashion, 8-1, to advance to the second round. Beginning on Saturday morning, the duo, as well as Pfeifler in singles play, will press on toward a berth in the national event in New York later this year.
Also earning first round wins in singles action were freshman Emily Flickinger (6-1, 6-4; Mackenzie Oskin - Southern Miss) and Kasler (6-4, 6-7, 6-0; Khrystyna Pavlyuk - Mississippi State). Plamena Kurteva dropped her match to Carolina Magnusson from Tulane 6-3, 6-2, while Taylor Cohen fell victim to Alabama's Mary Anne MacFarlane 6-0, 6-2.
Auburn's other doubles pairing - Flickinger and Cohen - fell to Gabby Rangel and Verboven from Ole Miss, 9-8.
The Tigers picked up just one win in the second round of singles play. Flickinger and Kasler both came up short in the round. In the singles consolation bracket, Cohen knocked off Madeline Van Rensburg of Samford, 6-2, 6-0, and Kurteva earned a 7-5, 6-2 win over Andrea Nedorostova of Northwestern State.
Both Cohen and Kurteva will play in the consolation bracket on Saturday, while Flickinger and Cohen will team in doubles consolation play on Saturday morning.
Play is scheduled to continue at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning on the campus of Samford University. For more information on Auburn Women's Tennis, visit AuburnTigers.com.