AUBURN, Ala. – It's one of the biggest events in collegiate tennis this weekend as the 14th-ranked Auburn women's team is headed to Madison, Wisconsin, for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Auburn's first-round opponent will be No. 6 NC State; that match will be played at noon CT Friday. Depending on the result, the Tigers will then face either No. 3 Georgia or No. 16 Washington at noon CT Saturday, with Sunday's opponent to be determined.
"We've had some really close matches," Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley said. "We've played a really tough non-conference schedule. For them to be where they are now, it's earned. It's earned on the practice court every single day.
"We're going to ITAs with the attitude not with the attitude we have nothing to lose, but that we do have something to lose. And that's a good attitude to have. When you're good, people want to beat you. When you're great, everyone wants to beat you. And they've learned to embrace that. We're going there knowing we belong."
The Tigers (7-0) put together an outstanding weekend at home last week, winning three matches with a 5-2 victory over Georgia Tech Friday and a pair of 7-0 sweeps of Clemson and Alabama A&M Sunday.
"The great teams find a way to get the job done when things don't look great," Lilley said. "After losing the doubles point, I loved the way we responded against Georgia Tech. They showed a lot of poise, maturity and grit. Those are the matches that really build confidence because you're finding a way when things aren't going your way.
"(Against Clemson), the doubles point was really close. But when we were able to settle in and play our style of tennis, we went into singles very confident. We're putting people out there at every spot that can win. If you can make a match competitive, you can win a match."
In the latest ITA individual rankings released Wednesday, junior Selin Ovunc comes in at No. 49 in singles with sophomore Ariana Arseneault at No. 116 and junior Carolyn Ansari at No. 125. The doubles team of Arseneault and Ovunc is ranked No. 49 nationally.
NC State (8-0) is also unbeaten on the season with three wins over ranked foes in No. 10 Ohio State, No. 21 Tennessee and No. 23 Princeton. The Wolfpack have four ranked singles players in No. 12 Jaeda Daniel, No. 32 Alana Smith, No. 40 Abigail Rencheli and No. 124 Priska Nugroho. In doubles, Daniel and Smith are ranked 10th, Daniel and Nell Miller are ranked 30th, and Sara Nayar and Nugroho come in at No. 51.
This is the fourth meeting between Auburn and NC State in women's tennis. Auburn owns a 2-1 lead in the series with wins in 1996 and 2007 and a loss in 2011. The 2007 win came in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Auburn is competing at the ITA Indoor Nationals for the third time. In 2017, Auburn dropped their opening match to Ohio State but won consolation matches against Yale and Georgia Tech. The next season, the Tigers fell to Pepperdine, defeated Michigan and dropped their final match to Wake Forest.
Live video and live scoring are available for every match of the tournament; links can be found on the schedule page at AuburnTigers.com.
No. 14 Auburn ready for tough test at ITA Indoor Nationals
