TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The road to the NCAA Championship begins Friday for the 19th-ranked Auburn women's tennis team as the Tigers face Oklahoma State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Match time is set for noon CT at the Scott Spiecher Memorial Tennis Center on Florida State's campus. Live video and live scoring will be available; links for both are on the women's tennis schedule page at AuburnTigers.com.
"I'm thrilled, I'm excited for them," Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley said. "Obviously, last year COVID abruptly ended things for us. The girls have been working incredibly hard for two years to earn an opportunity to compete in postseason play, and they certainly deserve it. They've put together a terrific year with a young squad. They've put themselves in some great positions."
The Tigers (13-8) are making their 13th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2018. Auburn has a 7-5 record all-time in first-round matches and has won four of their last six.
"We have a lot of new faces that have never experienced the NCAA Tournament," Lilley said. "That's really exciting for the group. I'm excited to play a tough team from the Big 12, where I'm pretty familiar with Oklahoma State after spending four years at Kansas. It's a formidable team, a great team, and we're excited about the opportunity to go down to Tallahassee, compete to the best of our ability and earn opportunities."
Auburn is led into the postseason by sophomore Selin Ovunc, ranked 61st in singles and recent recipient of a bid to the NCAA singles championships. Sophomore Carolyn Ansari checks in at 73rd in the ITA singles rankings, and the Tigers' top doubles team of Georgie Axon and Adeline Flach is ranked 69th.
Oklahoma State (11-11) is ranked 37th in this week's ITA team rankings. In singles, the Cowgirls have two ranked players in No. 26 Bunyawi Thamchaiwat and No. 58 Alana Wolfberg. In doubles, Thumchaiwat and Ayumi Miyamoto are ranked 57th.
Auburn is 1-2 all-time against Oklahoma State; all three previous matches have come at the Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery. Oklahoma State won the first meeting in 2012, Auburn upset the 11th-ranked Cowgirls in 2016, and OSU won the last meeting in 2019.
The winner of Friday's match will face the winner of Florida State and Alabama State at 3 p.m. CT Saturday with a trip to Orlando and the NCAA Championships on the line.
Tickets are available via Seminoles.com or by calling the FSU ticket office (850-644-1830). The Spiecher Tennis Center will be at 50% capacity. Tickets will be general admission (except for center sections) and fans will be required to wear masks inside the venue.
For the latest on Auburn women's tennis, follow @AuburnWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
No. 19 Auburn opens NCAA Tournament with Oklahoma State
