TEMPE, Ariz. - After struggling on Friday, Auburn bounced back to have a perfect day at the Thunderbird Invite in Tempe, Ariz. on Saturday. The Tigers went 3-0 in singles play and won their only doubles match of the day.
In singles, junior Anastasia Astakhova took her match over Erin Richardson from California 7-5, 6-2 while Adeline Flach defeated California's Makenna Thiel 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Freshman Kaitlyn Carnicella also picked up her seventh singles victory of the fall over Valentina Ivanov from California 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
In their only doubles match of the day, Flach and Carnicella defeated the California duo of Hannah Viller Moeller and Makenna Thiel 6-0. The win is the seventh doubles victory for Carnicella and the third for Flach this fall.
"I challenged our players to find their court personalities yesterday. I wanted to see more passion, grit and feistiness, characteristics that are the groundwork for playing the type of tennis they want to play," Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley said after her Tigers went undefeated on Saturday. "From the first point in singles, they made a concerted effort to bring more spice to the way they competed."
Auburn will wrap up play at the Thunderbird Invite on Sunday with doubles play beginning at 11 a.m. CT and singles play afterwards. You can follow the action with live scoring here.
