AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn concluded its regular season with a close loss to No. 17 Florida at the Yarbrough Tennis Center on Sunday. After dropping the doubles point, the Tigers fought back to tie the match 2-2 with the three remaining singles matches in a third set, but ultimately fell 5-2.
"Our response after Florida took it to us in doubles was resounding, a complete team effort," Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley said after the match. "We haven't had a match this year where I have been prouder of this team. The result isn't within our control, but the choice to fight and be tenacious, win or lose, is our decision each time we compete. We battled and we have nothing to hang our heads about. Matches like today make us better, and our team will be rewarded for doing all the right things throughout singles."
Florida claimed the doubles point due to quick wins on courts one and two with scores of 6-0 and 6-1, respectively. Auburn's DJ Bennett and Kaitlyn Carnicella were leading 3-2 on court three when the match was suspended.
In singles, Bennett continued her strong play with a dominant two-set victory over Alicia Dudeney, who is ranked 96th in the country in singles, by a 7-5, 6-2 score. The win for Bennett is her team-leading 15th dual singles win of the season and her sixth in a row.
Bennett was the only Tiger able to claim the first set during singles play and Florida's Emily de Oliveira claimed a two-set victory over Angella Okutoyi to give the Gators a 2-1 advantage.
The momentum then started to shift in Auburn's direction, as the Tigers won the second set to in all four remaining matches to force a third set.
On court two, senior Carolyn Ansari came back after losing the first set to win the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. The win tied the match and gave Ansari her 75th career singles victory at Auburn, which ties her for ninth most in program history.
After Ansari tied the match, Rachel Gailis helped Florida take the lead back with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win on court four over Carnicella. At this point, Auburn needed to win both remaining matches to claim a team victory.
Junior Ariana Arseneault, ranked 46th in the nation in singles, traded sets with No. 37 Sara Dahlstrom to set up a winner-take-all third set. Both players held serve in all games during a close third set, leading to a tiebreaker point. Dahlstrom ultimately won the tiebreaker point to win the match and deliver the team win for the Gators.
Adeline Flach also fell in a close match to Bente Spee 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4 to make the final score 5-2.
With the win, Florida concludes the regular season with a 15-6 overall record and a 9-4 record in the SEC. Auburn finished its regular season at an 18-7 overall mark and finished just below the Gators with an 8-5 conference record.
The Tigers will begin their postseason on Thursday morning at the SEC Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Auburn, the 5-seed, will play their first match on Thursday at 9 a.m. CT against the winner of Wednesday's match between 13-seed Missouri and 12-seed Ole Miss.
#17 Florida 5, #15 Auburn 2
Singles results:
1. #37 Sara Dahlstrom (UF) def. #46 Ariana Arseneault (AUB) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2)
2. #43 Carolyn Ansari (AUB) def. #38 Carly Briggs (UF) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. DJ Bennett (AUB) def. #96 Alicia Dudeney (UF) 7-5, 6-2
4. Rachel Gailis (UF) def. Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
5. Emily de Oliveira (UF) def. Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Bente Spee (UF) def. Adeline Flach (AUB) 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-4
Doubles results:
1. #49 Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) def. #24 Ariana Arseneault/Carolyn Ansari (AUB) 6-0
2. #74 Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis (UF) def. Adeline Flach/Angella Okutoyi (AUB) 6-1
3. DJ Bennett/Kaitlyn Carnicella (AUB) vs. Emma Shelton/Sophie Williams (UF) 3-2, unfinished
Time of match: 3:40 Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 3,5,2,4,1,6 Official: Donna Jerome