KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After beginning the Southeastern Conference schedule a perfect 3-0 at home, Auburn will now face their first SEC road tests of the season against No. 12 Tennessee at 3 p.m. on Friday and No. 6 Georgia at noon CT on Sunday.
Auburn, now 13-2 on the season after claiming the first three conference games, has now remained in the ITA top-10 for five consecutive weeks and is now riding an eight-game winning streak.
Tiger freshman DJ Bennett has been impressive in both singles and doubles as of late. Since moving into the fourth spot in the singles lineup, Bennett has gone a perfect 7-0 on the singles court and won five of the seven matches in just two sets. The Bellview, Florida native also recorded a ranked singles victory over Mississippi State's Maria Rizzolo, the 88th ranked singles player in the country, on Sunday.
On the doubles court, Bennett and fellow freshman Kaitlyn Carnicella are 2-0 against SEC opponents and have claimed four doubles victories in a row.
Tennessee moved up four spots in the latest ITA national team rankings that were announced on Tuesday from 16th to 12th. The Volunteers will enter Friday's matchup with an 11-2 overall record and an undefeated 4-0 in conference play. Tennessee will look to continue its momentum after a successful road trip last weekend that featured wins over No. 17 Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
Fifth-year senior Rebeka Mertena, who is ranked 31st in singles, has regularly played at the top of the Volunteers singles lineup holds an 8-3 overall dual record. Sophomore Elza Tomase, the 57th ranked singles player in the nation, has won each of her last four singles matches, with two of them coming against ranked opponents.
Georgia currently holds an 11-3 record and has gotten off to a perfect 4-0 record in SEC play. The Bulldogs boast five ranked singles players and two ranked doubles teams in the ITA individual player rankings. Georgia is coming off of a successful road trip last weekend, when they defeated both Kentucky and No. 23 Vanderbilt.
Friday's match against Tennessee will begin at 3 p.m. CT at the Goodfriend Tennis Center. Sunday's match against Georgia will begin at noon CT at the Magill Tennis Complex. Live video and live scoring of the match will be available online at georgiadogs.com.
