ATLANTA – Auburn women's tennis fought back from an early deficit to earn a big road win at No. 13 Georgia Tech, 4-3, Sunday morning in the ITA Kickoff consolation match.
The Tigers (5-1) found themselves in an 0-2 hole after dropping the doubles point and the first singles match, but took three singles matches to third sets, winning the final two to clinch the victory.
"After our loss yesterday, we sat down as a group and challenged ourselves to raise our intensity level, raise our level of ball tolerance and really dig in and fight in the face of adversity," Auburn head coach Lauren Spencer said. "I feel very proud that as a group we accomplished these goals and really came together to fight for this win. Georgia Tech is a very talented team and we really had to fight for every single point. I told the team after the match that we have to keep this fight and this heart in every match we play and gain the confidence to know that we can stand together until the very end."
Auburn took the first doubles match as Yu Chen and Alannah Griffin earned a 6-1 win at the No. 3 spot, but Georgia Tech rallied to take the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead with wins on courts one and two.
The Yellow Jackets (0-2) took a 2-0 lead as Jaeda Daniel fell on court one, 6-1, 6-3. Freshman Sophia Graver got Auburn on the board with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the No. 2 singles spot, and senior Alannah Griffin knotted the match at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-4 win on court five.
Georgia Tech moved back ahead as Madeline Meredith dropped a three-set decision on court three, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. But Taylor Russo bounced back after dropping a second-set tiebreaker to pull Auburn back even with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win at the No. 4 spot.
Freshman Yu Chen clinched the win for the Tigers, fighting back after dropping the first set to post a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win at the No. 6 position.
Auburn is back in action Saturday, Feb. 2, with a pair of matches at home. The Tigers will take on Houston at 10 a.m., then face UAB at 3 p.m. Admission is free, and all home matches are played at the Yarbrough Tennis Center off Richland Road.
For the latest on Auburn Women's Tennis, follow @AuburnWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Auburn 4, #13 Georgia Tech 3
Singles
1. Kenya Jones (GT) def. #61 Jaeda Daniel (AU), 6-1, 6-3
2. Sophia Graver (AU) def. Nami Otsuka (GT), 6-3, 6-3
3. Jeanette Lin (GT) def. Madeline Meredith (AU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
4. Taylor Russo (AU) def. Gia Cohen (GT), 6-3, 6-7, 6-3
5. Alannah Griffin (AU) def. Victoria Flores (GT), 6-3, 6-4
6. Yu Chen (AU) def. Valeriya Deminova (GT), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 3, 4, 6
Doubles
1. Jones/Lin (GT) def. #14 Graver/Russo (AU), 7-5
2. Flores/Deminova (GT) def. Daniel/Meredith (AU), 6-4
3. Chen/Griffin (AU) def. Cohen/Otsuka (GT), 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Time of match: 3:05