AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's tennis team is set for one of the top events of the fall season as the Tigers head to Tuscaloosa for the ITA Southern Regional Championships.
The tournament, hosted by Alabama, began Thursday and runs through Tuesday at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.
Qualifying singles matches began Thursday morning, but all seven Auburn student-athletes competing in singles begin play Friday in the main draw. Doubles competition will also begin Friday. Saturday will feature the rounds of 32 and 16 in both singles and doubles with quarterfinals Sunday, semifinals Monday and championship matches Tuesday.
A total of 18 teams will compete in the event with Division I schools from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana represented. There will be 113 athletes competing in singles and 49 teams playing in the doubles competition.
Main draw singles matches begin Friday afternoon. Junior Carolyn Ansari, ranked 45th in the ITA preseason rankings, is the No. 3 seed in the event. She will face Louisiana-Lafayette's Tanisha Kashyap in her first-round match at 3 p.m. Senior Yu Chen, at No. 116 nationally, is seeded sixth and will take on Ole Miss' Reka Zadori at 1:30.
Georgie Axon is the seventh seed and will face Anaelle Leclercq-Fisher of Ole Miss at noon. Ariana Arseneault, seeded eighth in the singles draw, faces Rachel Kryzyak of Ole Miss at 3:30. Anastasia Astakhova will take on Mississippi State's Marta Falceto at noon, Madeline Meredith will face MSU's Alexandra Mikhailuk at 2 p.m., and Adeline Flach will face an opponent to be determined from qualifying at noon.
In doubles, the 19th-ranked team of Axon and Flach are the top seed in the draw, earning a first-round bye. They will begin play Saturday at 9 a.m. against the winner of teams from Tulane and Northwestern State. Meredith and Aresneault are seeded sixth and also drew a first-round bye; they will face winners from McNeese State and Ole Miss at 9:45 a.m. Saturday. The team of Astakhova and Ansari will actually be the first to play for Auburn in the tournament as they face UAB's team of Wasserbauerova and White at 10 a.m. Friday.
The singles finalists and doubles champions qualify for the ITA National Fall Championships in San Diego in November.
Results will be posted on RollTide.com as matches finish each day. Live scoring will begin in the Round of 16 for both singles and doubles, and live video will be available starting Sunday with the quarterfinals.
For the latest on Auburn women's tennis, follow @AuburnWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
2021 ITA Southern Regional Championships
Auburn Schedule – Friday/Saturday
Singles – First Round (Friday)
Noon - Georgie Axon vs. Anaelle Leclercq-Fisher (OM)
Noon – Anastasia Astakhova vs. Marta Falceto (MSU)
Noon – Adeline Flach vs. TBA
1:30 – Yu Chen vs. Reka Zadori (OM)
2:00 – Madeline Meredith vs. Alexandra Mikhailuk (MSU)
3:00 – Carolyn Ansari vs. Tanisha Kashyap (ULL)
3:30 – Ariana Arseneault vs. Rachel Kryzyak (OM)
Doubles – First Round (Friday)
10 a.m. – Ansari/Astakhova vs. Wasserbauerova/White (UAB)
Doubles – Round of 32 (Saturday)
9 a.m. – Axon/Flach vs. TBA
9:45 a.m. – Arseneault/Meredith vs. TBA
Tigers set for ITA Southern Regional at Alabama
