Jan. 4, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" After a historic 2016 season in which Auburn women's tennis finished with a program record 24 wins and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, the Tigers will begin the 2017 season ranked No. 15 in the preseason Oracle/ITA rankings.
"We are excited to begin our spring season next week and for us, the ranking is just a starting point," Auburn head coach Lauren Spencer said. "We have a young team with very high aspirations and a ton of talent. I think this is going to be a fun team to root for and watch grow as the season progresses."
The Tigers finished the season 2016 ranked No. 12 after posting a 24-8 record and advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. Auburn will try for it's fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance.
After advancing to the Round of 16 at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, Alizee Michaud will begin the season ranked No. 13 in singles. The junior from Orlando, Fla. advanced to the National Indoors after defeating teammate Andie Dikosavljevic in the finals of the USTA/ITA Southern Regional on Oct. 17. Michaud finished the fall with a 10-3 record in singles.
Michaud and freshman Taylor Russo will begin the year at No. 25 in doubles, while Caroline Turner and Georgie Axon will start at No. 31. Michaud and Russo finished the fall with a 5-3 record and advanced to the main draw round of 16 in the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American in Palisades, Calif.
Turner and Axon finished the fall with a 3-2 record. The duo advanced to the finals of the Rice Invitational after defeating two ranked opponents.
Auburn will open it's the 2017 season on Saturday, January 21 against Samford at Yarbrough Tennis Center. The match will begin at 12 p.m. CT and admission is free.
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