Oct. 21, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn women's tennis sophomore Taylor Russo advanced to Sunday's quarterfinal round at the ITA Southern Regional Championship, defeating Alabama's Smith Hinton 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Russo, ranked No. 60 in the preseason singles rankings, will face No. 64 Ryann Foster of LSU in the quarterfinals at 11 am CT.
A native of Deerfield Beach, Fla., Russo has tallied three wins in singles on the weekend, defeating Rikeetha Pereira of Southern Miss 6-0, 6-0 and Louisiana Tech's Angela Lorenzo 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 in the first two rounds. She also picked up a win in main draw doubles with partner Madeline Meredith over Louisiana Tech's Chen and de la Luz.
In Saturday's doubles round of 16, Russo and Meredith fell to Tulane's Alvaro and Atkinson in a hard-fought 8-7 (3) decision. Jaeda Daniel and Caroline Turner also fell in the round to Alabama's Pelletier and Hinton in another well-played match that resulted in a 7-6 (5) final.
In B draw singles, senior Mary Katherine Lewis lost to UAB's Sophie Dodds 6-2, 6-4.
Day three of the ITA Southern Regional begins at 9 am CT with one round of doubles and two rounds of singles. Admission is free. For updates, follow @AuburnWTennis on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.