AUBURN, Ala. – No. 11 Auburn women's tennis looks to rebound from their latest road trip with two home conference matches this weekend. The Tigers will battle No. 37 LSU on Friday at 3 p.m. CT as well as No. 2 Texas A&M on Sunday at noon CT.
The Yarbrough Tennis Center has served Auburn well this season, as Auburn holds a 9-1 record on their home court with the only loss coming to the current top ranked team in the nation, North Carolina.
Despite dropping both road matches to Tennessee and Georgia last weekend, one of the bright spots for the Tigers was their strong doubles play. Auburn has claimed the doubles point in 13 of its 17 matches this season and in four consecutive matches.
The Auburn doubles team of Ariana Arseneault and Carolyn Ansari remained ranked at 20th in the country in the latest ITA rankings that were released on Tuesday. Arseneault and Ansari, who have recorded three wins over ranked doubles teams this season, currently hold a 7-7 dual match record.
The Auburn freshman duo of Kaitlyn Carnicella and DJ Bennett come into the weekend as winners of five straight doubles matches and with a 9-3 dual match record.
LSU moved up one spot in the latest ITA rankings to 38th after losing on the road to Texas A&M 5-2 on Friday and defeating Alcorn State at home 6-1 last weekend. The Tigers hold a 9-4 overall record and are 2-3 in SEC play.
Kylie Collins is the Tigers' highest ranked singles player at 22nd but has struggled lately with a 4-6 dual singles record including five straight losses. Anastasiya Komar, who recently moved to the top of the LSU singles lineup, has had an incredible season on the singles court that has earned her a national singles ranking of 27th. Komar holds a 26-5 overall singles record and a perfect 12-0 dual singles record coming into the weekend.
Only one ITA poll released in 2023 has not had Texas A&M in the top five so far this season. The Aggies are 17-1 this season, with their only loss coming to current No. 1 North Carolina during the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, and a perfect 5-0 SEC record. Texas A&M is coming off victories over LSU and No. 13 Miami last weekend.
The Aggies currently have six singles players and three doubles teams ranked by the ITA led by Mary Stoiana, who is ranked third in singles and is ranked third in doubles alongside partner Carson Branstine. Stoiana is currently 26-4 overall in singles, 12-1 in dual singles matches and has claimed seven straight singles victories. Stoiana and Branstine have had a perfect season to this point on the doubles court, as they have posted a 9-0 record.
Friday's match against LSU is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. CT and Sunday's match against Texas A&M will begin at noon CT. Live streaming video and live scoring of both matches will be available at AuburnTigers.com. Admission to the Yarbrough Tennis Center will be free and Kona Ice will be available for purchase during Sunday's match against Texas A&M.
