AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 13-ranked Auburn women's tennis team continued to make history Sunday, finishing off an undefeated home season with a 4-3 win over No. 10 Georgia at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
With the win, Auburn (20-4, 11-2 SEC) clinched a second-place finish in the final SEC standings, the best in program history.
"The weather threw us a curveball today, but as they always say, that is advantage Auburn," head coach Caroline Lilley said. "Composed competitors, gritty play, and resilient effort are distinguishing characteristics of this team."
Following the match, Madeline Meredith, Yu Chen and Georgie Axon were honored as part of Senior Day.
"Maddie, Yu and Georgie, thank you," Lilley said. "Thank you for buying in, for embracing change, and for being consistent with what you bring to the practice court. We appreciate you and we can't wait for the rest of this journey!"
Auburn captured the doubles point for the 11th time in SEC play and the 18th time overall this season. Carolyn Ansari and Meredith got the Tigers' first win with a 6-2 victory at the No. 3 spot. After Axon and Adeline Flach came up short in a 6-3 loss at the No. 3 spot, the 16th-ranked team of Selin Ovunc and Ariana Arseneault pulled away for a 6-3 win over 15th-ranked Coppoc and Hertel of Georgia – their second top-20 win of the weekend – to clinch doubles and a 1-0 lead.
Axon made the most of her senior day, capturing Auburn's first singles point with a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 108 Meg Kowalski, improving to 3-0 against ranked opponents this spring. It was the 105th career singles win for Axon, moving her into sole possession of second place in Auburn history.
Georgia got on the board on court five as Flach fell to Ania Hertel, 6-2, 7-5. But Arseneault, ranked 68th, came through with a 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 66 Dasha Vidmanova on court two to put the Tigers ahead 3-1.
No. 107 Ansari delivered the clincher moments later with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Morgan Coppoc at the third singles spot, giving Auburn a 4-1 lead and setting off a loud celebration with her teammates as they earned their first win over Georgia while at Auburn.
Chen came up just short on court six in a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Mai Nirundom for Georgia's second point. The final match on court saw No. 35 Ovunc and No. 29 Mell Reasco fight through an epic second-set tiebreaker with Reasco ultimately prevailing, 6-4, 7-6 (14-12) to finish off the day.
Sunday's match began outdoors but was forced inside midway through doubles play with thunderstorms approaching the Auburn area.
The Tigers will be the No. 2 seed in next week's SEC Tournament in Gainesville, Fla. Auburn will play its first match Friday at 5 p.m. CT against the winner of Alabama and Tennessee.
For the latest on Auburn women's tennis, follow @AuburnWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
#13 Auburn 4, #10 Georgia 3
Singles
1. #29 Mell Reasco (UGA) def. #35 Selin Ovunc (AU), 6-4, 7-6 (12)
2. #68 Ariana Arseneault (AU) def. #66 Dasha Vidmanova (UGA), 6-3, 7-5
3. #107 Carolyn Ansari (AU) def. Morgan Coppoc (UGA), 6-2, 6-4
4. Georgie Axon (AU) def. #108 Meg Kowalski (UGA), 6-3, 6-2
5. Ania Hertel (UGA) def. Adeline Flach (AU), 6-2, 7-5
6. Mai Nirundorn (UGA) def. Yu Chen (AU), 7-5, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 1
Doubles
1. #16 Ovunc/Arseneault (AU) def. #15 Coppoc/Hertel (UGA), 6-3
2. Reasco/Kowalski (UGA) def. Axon/Flach (AU), 6-3
3. Ansari/Meredith (AU) def. Grant/Vidmanova (UGA), 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
